The Triangle Complex
by Stasial
Summary: AU. Post-Prince Charmed. Chris needs to get Piper and Leo back together without revealing his secrets. It's about to get harder when Dan Gordon comes back into the Charmed Ones' lives.
1. The First Point

Disclaimer: Posting on a fanfiction site should be proof alone that Charmed isn't mine.

**A/N**: Hey, all. I originally posted The Triangle Complex under the pen name Charmed Leaf. I don't know if anyone remembers this story, but the version I'm uploading now is a rewrite.

**Chapter 1: The First Point **

The demon's body detonated in a burst of flame, his agonized screams a dying echo. Piper lowered her hands as Chris exhaled in relief. The demon hadn't been a particularly dangerous breed, but it never hurt to be careful. Years of being on the run from Wyatt in the future had taught him to always be cautious.

Chris held out a hand to stop Piper from speaking. His eyes flitted around the cavern and the tunnel leading into it as he listened for sounds other than his and Piper's breathing. The prickly feeling, the one that scurried down his spine whenever he sensed danger nearby, never came. No more demons shape-shifted from the shadows for another round. Satisfied that the threat had been neutralized, Piper tugged at his sleeve.

"All right, we're done. Let's go!"

Chris frowned. "What's the rush?"

"You mean, besides the fact that we're standing in demon central? I'd like to use what little time I have left to get ready, thank you!"

Chris waited until he orbed them both back to the manor to ask, "Get ready for what? Wait, you're not still going out with that Greg guy, are you?"

"As a matter of fact, Chris, I am. Now, if you don't mind…" Piper started to push past him for the stairs, but he moved to block her.

"Yeah, I do mind. There's still the Spira Demons to vanquish. We have to call Phoebe and Paige because we're going to need the Power of Three for this one."

"I'm sure it can wait a few hours. Actually, make that a few days. By the way, I need you to watch Wyatt while I'm gone. He's asleep in the nursery."

Chris opened his mouth to argue that he didn't have time to babysit, only for Piper to interrupt him. "Look, I get that this is important, really, but don't you think we deserve a break? We've been demon hunting a lot. I mean, a lot more than usual, and that's saying something."

"It's only three o'clock! Who goes on dates in the middle of the day?"

"I do," said Piper. "Greg works nights. When else are we supposed to go out?"

Right on cue, Paige came bounding down the stairs. She stopped near the bottom to find Chris and Piper glaring at each other in an apparent standoff. As though afraid she might worsen the situation by talking too loudly, she dropped her voice to a whisper. "Is something going on here?"

"Yes," said Chris at the same time Piper replied just as vehemently, "No."

Paige's head swung back and forth between the two of them. "So, which is it?"

Chris ignored the question. "Good, you're here, Paige. Let's get Phoebe and I can fill you in on the way."

"Hold it!" bellowed Paige, throwing up a hand. "Are these demons going to attack anytime soon?"

"Well, no, but—"

"Are you absolutely certain these are the ones that turn Wyatt evil?"

"No," answered Chris irritably, "but—"

"Then what's the hurry?"

"You don't understand. These demons increase their ranks by taking magical children. They corrupt their souls until they're as evil as them. Think about it! Doesn't that sound like the sort thing that could've happened to Wyatt?"

"It's not that we don't think those demons are a problem," said Piper. Her tone became patronizing like she was talking to a child and not a grown man. "It's just that, if they're not an immediate threat, why go out of our way to piss them off?"

Paige flourished her arm in her sister's direction. "My thoughts exactly."

"It's settled, then. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to get going now." She squeezed by Chris and dashed up the stairs past Paige. A moment later, Piper's bedroom door slammed shut.

Paige clapped him on the shoulder in what Chris supposed was a half-hearted apology. "Maybe next time, Chris?" Then she orbed out, probably to Richard's.

He rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to chuck something, telekinetically or otherwise, across the room. He had hoped that the sisters' trip through alternate dimensions, where their desires had come to life and nearly killed them, would have changed their attitudes. As usual, things never worked out so well for him.

Since her separation from Leo, all Piper did lately was go out with Greg the fireman when she wasn't tending to Wyatt. She claimed to have moved on from Leo, but her erratic dating habits didn't bode well with Chris. This, Chris admitted to himself with a squirm, was his fault. Removing Leo from the picture had been necessary, so he'd have an excuse to stay close to the sisters. With half his cover already blown, though, did it matter anymore? Each newly revealed secret was doing little to improve his reputation in the sisters' eyes. He couldn't afford to alienate them further, not when their trust was hanging by a thread thanks to last week's fiasco with the Order and Mr. Right.

Maybe that's why he kept up the endless demon hunts. If he vanquished as many demons as possible, he could prove he intended no malice towards them.

His mind kept replaying the incident up to Piper's hate-filled face and the words that had accompanied it. _Chris, we don't need your help. I will get my son back and when I do, I don't want to see you anymore. _He wasn't sure if her knowing who he was would have changed that scenario. He wasn't sure about a lot of things anymore.

The doorbell yanked Chris out of his reverie. Running a weary hand over his face, Chris shouted, "I'll get it!" to the stairs and walked to the door.

He pulled the door open to a muscular, blond man about Piper's age. His clothes, consisting of a sports polo shirt and slacks, were too casual for a business call. Chris had made it a point to familiarize himself with everyone the sisters knew, but he didn't recognize the man from either the past or future. He tensed and positioned his hand to throw him out via telekinesis if required. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. Does Piper Halliwell still live here?"

Chris' eyes narrowed into slits. "Who wants to know?" he demanded more aggressively than he intended. Nothing indicated that the guy was demonic, especially since demons weren't known for minding their manners before attacking. Then again, there was always at least one exception to the rule.

"I'm an old friend of hers. Name's Dan Gordon. I was just stopping by to visit."

Dan Gordon. Why did that name sound familiar? Chris racked his brains to figure out where and when he'd heard it before…

* * *

_The dining room had been crowded an hour ago with friends and relatives, but now it was empty save for Chris and his mother. Wyatt had gone to bed early, having complained of a stomachache from eating too much cake. Streamers, balloons and a banner proclaiming "Happy 10th Birthday!" brightened the place with their gaudy colors. Scraps of wrapping paper and an open birthday card littered the table. The message, "Happy birthday, Chris. Sorry, I can't be there today. Will make it up to you tomorrow. Love, Dad" jumped out from the card in black sharpie. _

_As Mom wiped the table down with a rag, Chris traced his index finger around the message for the hundredth time that night. He should have known better than to get his hopes up. Yet he had, because Dad had promised to come—crossed his heart even. Suddenly, Chris crammed the card back into its envelope, not caring how many the creases he made. _

_Mom saw what he was doing. She put down the cleaning rag, glided over to him and wrapped him up in a tight embrace. _

"_I'm sorry he couldn't come, honey. He really did want to be here," she said._

_Wanted to? So what? There was a difference between wanting something and doing it. It was the same excuses year after year. Dad never missed Wyatt's birthday, after all. _

_Sensing his feelings, Mom continued, "I know that doesn't make it right. I'll talk to him when he comes home."_

_Chris pulled away from his mother. Any talk his parents had would ignite into an argument about him. It always did. And then a question he'd pondered in the last few months nagged at him again. Should he ask her? He was sure it was rude, but he wanted to know. Asking Aunt Paige or Aunt Phoebe might be better if he was willing to wait that long. Unfortunately, his mouth was a separate entity from his brain. Before he could stop himself, he blurted, "Mom, did you date anyone before you met Dad?"_

_Mom gave him a funny look. It certainly wasn't a question she expected from the birthday boy. Nonetheless, she decided to humor him and began to tick off her past boyfriends on her fingers._

"_Yes, I did. Let me see, in high school there was…" She proceeded to list the guys from that time, then university and then the ones from her early Wiccan days. "Jeremy turned out to be a warlock. Surprise, surprise, huh? Then there was Mark—he was a ghost we helped out years ago, although I didn't date him per say. And last but not least, Dan Gordon."_

"_I wish one of those guys was my dad. Even a warlock is better than _him_," he mumbled too low for his mother to hear. _

* * *

Dan Gordon—Piper's ex-boyfriend, the last one before Leo. Okay, he wasn't a demon. On the other hand, Chris couldn't fathom why he would be here. Dan and Piper had broken up ages ago with no contact in the last few years. Given recent events, the timing of Dan's arrival felt strange to Chris. Either that, or he was overanalyzing things.

When Chris didn't reply, Dan pressed on. "And you are…?"

"Chris Perry."

"Oh. Is Piper home?" Dan stretched his neck to the side to see past Chris' shoulder.

"She might be," Chris shrugged. He trusted Dan's visit was just that, a visit.

Dan's eyebrows shot up. "Okay," he said. "Out of curiosity, how are you related to Piper?"

"Let's just say I've known her for a very long time."

A staccato of footsteps directed both men's eyes to the stairwell. Piper ran down the steps as fast as her high heels would allow her, her hair curled in gentle waves and a simple black dress clung to her slender frame. "Oh, my god, I'm going to be late. I hope Greg doesn't think I stood him up." Upon spotting her visitor, she almost tripped on the last step. "Dan!"

Dan smiled and waved from afar. "Hi, Piper."

She hobbled to the doorway to plant herself next to Chris. "H-hi. What brings you here? Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see you," stammered Piper.

"I got the week off from work. Figured I'd come down to San Francisco for a bit."

"That's great. Chris, you can let him in," Piper said. Chris reluctantly stepped back so Dan could enter the house and shut the door behind them.

"How have you been?" asked Piper.

Leaning against the door, his hands stuffed in his pockets, Chris barely heard a word of their conversation. Instead, he gazed at nothing in particular as he plotted his next course of action. With the sisters unwilling to vanquish the Spira Demons, he would have to put them off for the time being. While his instincts refused to dismiss the beings, pursuing them alone was out of the question. He could take care of a few lower-level demons himself until the sisters were in a more cooperative mood.

He looked up to tell Piper where he was going, but what he saw next made his stomach twist. What the hell? How did Dan and Piper get so close to each other without him noticing? He tuned in to their conversation.

Their chat skirted around more or less harmless subjects, but their actions were another thing. Was it his imagination, or did Piper seem way more comfortable with her ex than she should be? The last time he'd seen her at ease like that, it had been when she was on better terms with Leo. She appeared to have forgotten about her date with Greg altogether, which wasn't a bad thing in Chris' book. The fireman was bland, annoying and unworthy of his mother-to-be. Problem was, it didn't do him much good if she was about to trade one boyfriend for another.


	2. The Second Point

Disclaimer: Charmed isn't mine. Copyright infringement ain't my thing.

**Chapter 2: The Second Point **

When Dan Gordon arrived in San Francisco, he dropped his bags off at a downtown hotel and ordered a taxi to take him to the Halliwell manor. Had it not been for who lived there, he wasn't sure he would have come to San Francisco at all.

Four years. It had been that long since he'd dated Piper Halliwell, until she had broken up with him for Leo Wyatt. He didn't like to dwell on that; it stirred too many painful memories of the aftermath of their break-up. Leo did care about her, but that was all the credit Dan would give him. He'd never quite shaken off the uneasy vibes he'd gotten from him. He'd found inconsistencies in Leo's personal history that Piper had laughed off as nothing. In the end, he didn't pursue it. Other than that one time at P3, he didn't intend to act like the stereotypical, jealous ex. He was happy for Piper.

Then, out of the blue, tranquility had washed over him as refreshing as warm water. He couldn't waste his life away moping, he'd realized. It wasn't just that, though. A job offer in Portland, Oregon had made starting fresh all the more convenient. Although he told himself he'd moved on, he couldn't forget about Piper, and a small part of him insisted that he was missing something important. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, just that it was connected to why he had moved on.

Upon reaching the manor, Dan feared for one sickening second that Piper had moved out. A strange young man had answered his knock instead of her, or one of her sisters.

Dan was unsure of what to make of the stranger. His tone was coldly polite and he refused to answer his questions about Piper outright. If he didn't know better, the man was treating Dan as a potential threat. Who was he, anyway? A family member? Something about his facial features and coloring reminded him of Piper, though he'd never seen the man around the manor before. Dan took his evasiveness to mean that he was at the right place, and Piper's appearance confirmed his guess once and for all.

Piper was as beautiful as ever. Besides her hair being longer than he remembered, she looked the same and judging by her attire, she was off to somewhere important. Hoping to chat before she had to leave, he spoke as if they'd last seen each other last week and not four years ago.

"How have you been?" Piper asked.

"Pretty good. I get up, go to work—you know, the usual. My life hasn't been too exciting, but enough about me. How are you?"

"Moving to a new city sounds exciting to me."

"Yeah, for the first few weeks it was. How about you?"

"Wyatt and I are fine."

"Wyatt?" Why was she referring to Leo by his last name?

"Our son," Piper corrected hastily. They had a kid too? With a sinking heart, he concluded that she must have married Leo soon after his departure. He changed the subject.

"How are your sisters?"

At this question, Piper stiffened and looked away from him. "Phoebe's okay. She moved out with her boyfriend to Hong Kong. Prue…" A painful pause followed as she considered how to phrase it. "Prue is no longer with us."

The hidden meaning of the statement weighed heavily in his chest. He took a moment to process it, then choked out, "What happened?"

"She was attacked." Piper didn't go into the details and Dan didn't press for them. Whatever had occurred, it was a horrible way to lose someone. He hadn't known Prue as well as Piper, but he had considered her and Phoebe good acquaintances. Worse was the pain Piper must have gone through.

"Did they catch the guy who did it?"

Piper looked back at him with eyes that told him the answer before she uttered it. "Yeah, he got what he deserved."

"Good." Without thinking, he took a step or two towards her until they were mere inches away from one another. "I'm sorry about Prue. I'm sorry I wasn't there."

She waved a hand at him. "Don't apologize. You didn't know."

"If there's anything I can do—"

"It's okay. You being here is enough." She smiled at him, causing Dan's heart to flutter the way it used to when they had been a couple. "A lot of things have changed since then."

Dan was about to respond when the young man—Chris, Piper had called him earlier—cleared his throat loudly. Dan jumped, having forgotten about him being there.

"I hate to break up this little reunion," said Chris, "but aren't you supposed to be somewhere else, Piper?"

Piper's hands flew up to her mouth. "Oh no!"

The phone rang from the other end of the hall. Piper reached it in three strides, picked it up and babbled her apologies. "I'm so sorry, Greg… It's not that. Something came up… No, it's not an emergency… Are you sure? Okay, that's fine. I'll call you tomorrow."

She dropped the phone back in its cradle and touched her forehead in embarrassment.

"If I'm interrupting something, I can go," said Dan. He hadn't meant to ruin her plans.

"Dates can always be rescheduled," said Chris smugly, crossing his arm.

Dan straightened up as though a needle had stabbed him in the back. "Date? What happened to Leo?" He noticed just then that her hand lacked a wedding ring. Confusion, sympathy and relief crashed down on him, flooding his senses. As for Greg—whoever he was—he couldn't be too important if she could break off her plans with him so easily. Together, these two facts fired a stupefied message to his brain: Piper is divorced, Piper is divorced, Piper is divorced…

She twirled her fingers in front of her. "Uh-huh, about that. It's a long, ridiculously complicated story. You wouldn't believe it."

"I gotta go," announced Chris. Without another word, he darted out of sight into the kitchen.

Dan wondered what was up with him. First an interruption, and then an abrupt exit? His curiosity getting the better of him, he asked Piper, "Is Chris a relative of yours?"

To his confusion, she laughed. "No, Chris is a family friend, for the lack of a better term. Where'd you get that idea from?"

Dan tossed his arms up. "I don't know. I thought he looked a lot like you."

* * *

Confident that Dan and Piper couldn't see him, Chris orbed from the kitchen to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. He always found the fresh air and sweeping view of the city soothing for his tangled thoughts. They were particularly tangled where Dan was concerned. He didn't recall him showing up in his timeline. Had Chris' presence in the past changed events that much?

He prayed the alterations didn't extend to his own existence. Oblivion hadn't claimed him yet, but it did him little good when each passing day pushed him closer toward his conception date. Chris assured himself he still had next month, but what would he do when there were no more months to count? He had to act.

Step one, get rid of Dan. Step two, stop procrastinating and get Piper and Leo back together, or else. Again, he kicked himself for allowing the split and the grief it had wreaked on Piper. He prayed that their relationship wasn't damaged beyond repair.

He was prepared to spend the next few hours alone on the bridge to refine a plan, except that someone else was already there.

"Chris."

"Leo." Chris inclined his head at the Elder, but otherwise paid no attention to him.

Chris hadn't seen him since the incident with the Order, and he wouldn't have minded keeping it that way. He didn't give a damn about Leo's newfound trust. Fortune cookie advice and a lecture didn't change anything. He wasn't about to cast aside the missed birthdays, the broken promises and his inexcusable behavior after the Event. The man was the same no matter what time period. He only needed Leo to exist, or so he convinced himself.

"What are you doing here?"

Chris kept his gaze on the city below. "I needed somewhere _quiet_ to think."

"Are the girls and Wyatt okay?" said Leo, not getting the memo about being quiet.

"Yeah," said Chris absently. Couldn't he shut up for five seconds?

Leo walked towards him and clapped his hands together. "I guess Piper is having fun on her date, right?"

He sighed and gave up on pretending the Elder wasn't there. "She cancelled it."

Leo's mouth twitched to keep from grinning. "I see. Why's that?"

Ah, the million dollar question. "An old friend came by. You were, shall we say, acquainted with him before he moved away?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Leo stalked over to Chris so that they were nose to nose. "It better not be who I think you're referring to."

"What, you mean Dan Gordon?"

"Damn it, you weren't supposed to say that," growled Leo. It took all of Chris' self-control not to laugh at the expression on Leo's face. In fact, he might have if Leo didn't look ready to rip apart the first thing that moved. He watched in amusement as the Elder paced around the bridge.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news," said Chris, and he meant it—kind of.

Leo grunted and kept pacing.

It was Chris' turn to restrain a smile. "Don't tell me you're jealous."

"Of course not!" Leo exclaimed, but his jaw tightened visibly.

"Leo, there's nothing wrong with how you feel. Every guy is entitled to a little envy when his wife is in the company of a man she used to date."

That was the last straw for Leo, who grabbed Chris' arm. "Come on, let's go," he said, and orbed them back to the manor.


	3. The Third Point

Disclaimer: Charmed isn't mine. If it were, season eight wouldn't have happened the way it did.

**Chapter 3: The Third Point **

Leo orbed them into the kitchen where they could hear Dan and Piper conversing in the living room. Chris snuck a glance at Leo. He knew him better as a pacifist than as a jealous ex-husband. In a way, that was cause for concern.

Chris had debated the wisdom of mentioning Dan to Leo. He hadn't planned to, but he couldn't pass up an opportunity to set off the Elder's blood pressure. Ideally, he would have liked to get Dan out with little to no violence, but the Elder radiated with as much rage as he had on the bridge. At the same time, Leo being pro-active solved so many problems. Barring his own feelings about his father, Chris recognized the bond his parents had shared. His mother had never divorced his father despite threatening to do so. And, according to his mother in the future, Leo hadn't done anything rash except for the occasional poorly concealed remark while she had dated Dan.

All in all, if that were any indication, things would work out. Right?

He followed Leo, who charged in like a provoked bull, into the living room. Piper and Dan sat on the couch, their backs turned to them. Too immersed in their discussion, they didn't notice Leo come up behind them.

"We didn't meet Paige until a couple of years ago. You can imagine Phoebe's reaction when she found out she wasn't the baby of the family anymore," Piper chuckled.

"I'd like to meet her sometime," said Dan.

"You might. She misses her nephew too much to stay away long."

"I'm glad that things worked out for you guys. Still, I wish I hadn't moved away when I did."

"Really, Dan, don't worry about it."

Dan placed his hand on top of Piper's. "At least I can be here for you now," he said.

"That won't be necessary," said Leo loudly.

Piper whipped around and gaped. Dan followed suit with an exaggerated version of her expression. For his part, Chris clasped his hands behind his back and maintained his distance from the threesome.

"Leo, what are you doing here?" said Dan in forced politeness. "Aren't you and Piper divorced?"

Piper regained her composure and eyed Leo and Chris darkly. "We are," she asserted.

"I heard you were in town. I figured I'd come by to say hello," answered Leo. "That's not a problem, is it?"

"Nope. Hello to you too." Dan got up from the couch and walked around it to face Leo on equal level. Piper stood up as well.

"Yeah. So, uh…" Now that he was there, Leo didn't know what to do. Seeing Dan in the same room as Piper left little room for him to ponder the consequences of barging in. Piper's scowl crushed down on him hard enough to feel solid, and he swallowed. He had to speak out. He wasn't about to act the fool in front of Dan Gordon.

"How's life?" A millisecond after he uttered the question, Leo cringed. Chris covered his eyes and wondered how Leo could stare down evil on a regular basis, yet flounder in front of someone as harmless, magically speaking, as Dan.

Dan jammed his hands on his hips. "It depends on what you're referring to."

"He's referring to how nice it is that you're here," Piper cut in.

A twisted smile played on Leo's lips. "That wasn't what I was going to say." The smile slid off his face. What was he doing? He had no right to interfere with Piper's life. Her meeting with Dan was none of his business. "You know what? Forget it. I'll just go."

"Already? And here I thought we were getting along," said Dan.

Leo nodded. "Oh, I agree, but you and Piper are clearly enjoying yourselves. I'd hate to ruin that for you." Chris looked up in panic. That wasn't a mindset Leo was supposed to have.

"You're going to let him win?" Chris burst out.

"Stay out of this, Chris," warned Leo. "This isn't a competition."

"You're giving up on Piper just like that?" Dan said incredulously. "I hate to imagine what the past four years have been like for her. You always run off when it's convenient for you."

"What are you implying? Piper, what have you been telling him?"

Piper bristled. "Nothing about us."

"She didn't have to tell me anything," Dan shot back. "It was obvious from the way she would talk about anybody but you."

"Dan, you're blowing this all out of proportion," Piper insisted.

"Could we keep it down, please?" interjected Chris. No one addressed him. Heart pounding, Chris took a tentative step towards the group. He didn't like the shade of red Dan and Leo's faces were turning.

Leo advanced on Dan, fists clenched. "You have no right to judge. If you knew half the facts, you wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions."

"I think I know enough."

"Let me guess," Leo taunted. "You think Piper deserves you more. As if you'd be better!"

What resembled a mini-explosion erupted in the room. Chris jerked, Piper bellowed something incomprehensible and Leo lay sprawled on the floor as Dan rubbed the sore spot on his knuckles. Leo dazedly touched the purple bruise bubbling on his jaw. When his fingers brushed against the swelling, the rage raced back into his eyes. With a grunt, he leaped to his feet and returned Dan the favor by punching him in the face.

Chris watched the fight in horrified fascination. His expectations about Leo handling the situation with class flew out the window.

"Hey! HEY!" shouted Piper, rushing in to get between them, but leaped back when Dan shoved Leo into the coffee table. Leo picked himself up, seized Dan by the arms and tossed him into the wall with a deafening crunch. The family photos on the wall shuddered.

"STOP IT!" Piper screeched, but she might as well have yelled at two battering rams.

Wanting to fix the mess he helped create, Chris dove in and grabbed Leo around the middle to drag him off of Dan. He hauled him away a few inches, but Leo, too drunk on the fight to notice his actions, elbowed Chris in the stomach and ran forward for more. Chris slammed into the floor, gasping, arms wrapped around his middle. He felt like a hole had been punched into his gut. The imaginary hole burned, but he forced himself to stand regardless.

"I said stop!" Piper flung out her hands, and Dan and Leo froze as rigid as statues. Each man had an arm drawn back in mid-punch. "Ugh, I can't believe those two!"

"Nice one, Piper," Chris remarked, impressed that she'd caught them before either one could hit the other.

Piper glared at him. "I'll deal with you in a minute. As for them, I don't know. The second I unfreeze them, they'll go at it again."

Chris motioned at Leo with two fingers. At this gesture, Leo slid backwards in his frozen position until he was several feet away from Dan. "There, problem solved," said Chris.

Piper flicked her hands to resume the scene. With nothing in front of them any longer, the two men swung wildly at thin air. Leo stumbled and caught himself in time, but Dan wasn't so lucky. The force of his missed punch sent Dan landing flat on his face.

"You two stay where you are! There better not be blood on the floor when I come back. And you!" Piper snarled, pointing at Chris. "Come with me."

Chris dragged his feet along the floor as he followed her into the sunroom. He didn't need premonitions to guess Piper's next move. He bit down on his lip and waited for the blow to fall.

Piper's entire body shook with suppressed rage. Was it too much to ask for one day free of screw-ups? Missing her date with Greg, her reunion with Dan wrecked by the guys' need to brawl rather than compromise like normal human beings… Magic was bad enough without regular problems too. Would it never end? Leo's entrance was too well timed to be a coincidence, and she had a sneaking suspicion as to who was responsible.

"You are unbelievable! You brought Leo here on purpose, didn't you?" Piper accused.

She examined Chris' face for any signs of guilt. Nothing happened. Chris didn't so much as blink. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Like hell you don't!" snapped Piper. The boy's lack of emotion tore at her frazzled nerves. "Cut the crap and tell the truth for once. You're delusional if you think messing in my affairs is going to get me to trust you. You knew sticking my husband and ex-boyfriend together would be a disaster."

Piper's eyebrows furrowed. Something was illogical about that. For that to happen, Chris had to have known one small fact in order to foresee such an outcome.

"How did you find out that Dan was my ex?"

A dozen lies sprang up in Chris' mind, the simplest being that he had put two and two together when Dan first showed up. Given her tendency to dispute anything he said these days, however, it didn't sound adequate enough.

He gritted out the easiest excuse. "I can't tell you. Future consequences."

"Enough of the future consequences already," Piper grumbled.

"If you knew I was going to say that, why did you ask?"

"Stop being a smart ass and give me a straight answer."

"Look, don't pin this on me. Leo's the one who dragged me along for the ride," Chris defended himself.

"You call that a straight answer?"

"I told you, future consequen—"

"Okay, that's it!" Piper exploded. "I've had enough of your games. Tricking us into binding Wyatt's powers was low, but this? This is seriously…" Unable to spit out a term that described the depth of his crime, she tried another tact. "I'm through with you destroying our lives."

"What?" Chris staggered, his stoic demeanor finally shattered. Something odd—hurt and shock?—flashed through his eyes.

She noted his reaction, pleased that the enormity of his actions was dawning on him. It was about time someone put him in his place.

"Congratulations, you've succeeded so far. I hope you're happy."

Chris' reply came out soft and fragile. "You think destroying your lives is the reason I came back here?"

"Seems that way from where I'm standing," she said.

She waited for him drop the act, to rave about how his mission overrode everything, including people. It never happened. No lie to cover his tracks. No witty comeback. Chris simply gazed at her, his eyes clouding over in a glassy sheen. Piper tilted her head to the side and felt her resolve to stay furious at him waver somewhat. The last time he'd shown some form of emotion, she'd been too preoccupied with saving Wyatt from the Order to appreciate it.

"I'm sorry," Chris whispered. "For everything."


	4. Outside the Lines

Disclaimer: Short of bringing in an Avatar in to warp reality, Charmed isn't mine.

**Chapter 4: Outside the Lines **

Apologies. Chris owed them to many people. He was sorry he had to involve the sisters in his mission. Sorry he hadn't foreseen his brother's descent into evil. Sorry he'd gotten his mother and Bianca killed. Sorry for the suffering of millions of innocents at Wyatt's hand. Sorry that any of this had to happen in the first place.

The confession was ready to slip off the tip of his tongue. The desire to spill everything to Piper was so intense that it slashed him to the bone. But no matter the pain, he couldn't do it. He'd done too much damage to the family's lives. Too many insults had been traded, too many lies told on his part. If they uncovered one more lie, they would do more than distrust him forever.

So, he only had one choice. Chris blinked the watery film out of his eyes and slid the impassive mask back in place.

"Chris…" said Piper. Her glare softened a little, though he was probably imagining things.

He couldn't keep eye contact with her, not when her temper was this frayed and directed at him. He peered down at his feet. "You better check on Dan and Leo. Who knows what will happen if we leave them alone too long?" he said, but his voice wavered. He backed away and—what else?—bolted for the attic. It was a coward's move given his involvement in starting the fight, but his need to escape won out.

He stepped in front of the pedestal holding up the Book of Shadows. The pages began to turn rapidly on their own under his guiding fingers. The hideous faces of demons and warlocks sneered up at him from the crackled paper, but his brain wasn't registering them anyway. The book was thin compared to the one from his era and all too soon, it fell open to the last page. Chris flipped the back cover closed in annoyance. He'd skimmed through it too often for it to distract him from the hopelessness pinning him down.

Chris didn't think he asked for much. Wanting to exist was a simple demand. But Fate, it seemed, preferred to throw curveballs at that like everything else in his life. Was it a hint that about his destiny, that it was solely for him to warn the Charmed Ones about the future? Perhaps he ought to stop fighting Fate for once. Keep out of the Dan situation and let the timeline run its natural course from here on out. Once or twice, he thought fading out of existence wouldn't be so bad as long as he completed his goal of saving Wyatt first…

A shower of blue orbs clustered in Chris' line of vision. Startled, he glanced up to find Wyatt materializing on the couch to his left.

"Hey, little guy," murmured Chris as he bent down to sit next him. He ruffled his brother's hair and smiled slightly at the irony of the gesture. In another time, Wyatt messed with _his_ hair and called him little. "Aren't you supposed to be asleep?"

Too young to string a coherent sentence together, the toddler gurgled against the idea of sleeping too much during the day. Chris laughed. Some things never changed.

He noticed Wyatt's arms were wrapped around a cube-shaped object. "What's that you got there?"

Wyatt held the item up. It was one of his cherished toys, a wooden box with circular, triangular and square holes punched into the lid to match the shape of the plastic blocks inside. The toddler slid the lid off, picked up a green cylinder block and held it out to Chris.

Chris knew what he was asking for. "Sorry, Wy, I can't play today," he said.

The toddler was not to be deterred. He bounced on the spot and extended his arm out further. When he shook his head no, Wyatt grabbed his wrist and pushed the block into the palm of his hand. Instantly, Chris realized what he was really trying to do.

"Are you giving this to me?"

Pleased that he understood, Wyatt clapped and giggled.

"Thanks, Wy." He felt his eyes moisten again, but not for the same reason as before. As he turned the block over in his hand, the weight of his earlier negative musings lifted from his shoulders. This was worth it. Moments like these with the good, untainted version of Wyatt were few due to his busy schedule, but it reaffirmed why he'd taken this trip to the past. If he looked past the strange age disparities, it was almost like having his big brother back.

Chris slipped the block into his jacket pocket and rose from his seat. Touching Wyatt's shoulder, he said, "Listen, you should orb to your room before Mom catches you. Can you do that for me?"

Whether Wyatt was going to obey or not, he didn't find out. A thin black projectile catapulted towards his nose, forcing Chris to jerk his body sideways. The object narrowly whizzed by his ear and struck the window behind him. The stained glass collapsed from its frame and crumbled to the floor in a million shards.

His battle instincts kicked into overdrive. He spared a glance to ensure Wyatt was unharmed, and then turned to face the intruder.

The attacker was a brown haired man clad in a black suit. He could have passed for a human were it not for his long, blade-like nails. His index finger was missing a nail, but a jolt of his wrist caused a new one into slide out from under the flesh. Chris cursed under his breath. He hadn't had a chance to tell Piper about the Spira Demons' nails.

"Not bad, Whitelighter," sneered the demon.

Chris returned the sneer. Inside, adrenaline poured into his chest and froze. He had to get himself and Wyatt out unscathed without bringing the demon downstairs. "Let me guess, you're here to kill the Charmed Ones? No? How about the Twice-Blessed child?"

"Neither."

"Oh, so it's me? I'm touched," said Chris, rolling his eyes.

"You should be. Word has gotten out about your exploits in the Underworld, and then we hear you're interested in our demise! An admirable goal, but foolish."

Three more Spira Demons, two males and one female, shimmered in to flank their leader. One of the males was bald and wide in the shoulders compared to his companions. The other sported a thick beard that came close to swallowing his mouth and the female wore her blonde hair in a high ponytail. Each was armed with a full set of sharpened nails. Chris' heart threatened to explode as the suppressed adrenaline burst through the rest of his body.

"Wyatt, danger!" he shouted, slicing his arm through the air and sending one of the demons flying into the potions table. As he did, a blue energy shield shot up over the couch.

* * *

Piper stood rooted to the spot, torn between running after Chris and going to the living room. Her fury was ebbing away and pangs of regret streamed in to take its place. Granted, the young man was a liar and a manipulator, two qualities she loathed in any person. And yet, twisted as it was, he was doing it for them. Not for himself. Them. The amount of effort Chris exerted to keep Wyatt safe was something she, the mother, couldn't lay claim to. Then there was the fact that the poor guy had lost his fiancé not too long ago.

That decided it for her. She would deal with the immediate problem of Dan and Leo, and she would apologize to Chris right after. No matter far she buried it, she knew deep down that her accusations had been unfair and harsh.

She re-entered expecting the worse. Amazingly, though, the floor was blood-free because Dan and Leo were standing on opposite ends of the room. Dan was massaging a tender spot on his neck and Leo was looking at any spot that didn't include Dan.

Piper pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest. The whole thing was idiotic, bordering on insane. She pictured herself scolding a teen Wyatt in the future for brawling, not her husband—ex-husband, she had to remind herself—and ex-boyfriend.

"I don't know what to say," she huffed. They had the decency to bow their heads in shame, at least. "I thought we got past the jealousy issue years ago."

"I'm not jealous," said Dan too quickly.

Piper stared at him and Leo's mouth contorted in a disbelieving smirk. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you the one who threw the first punch?" she pointed out.

Dan held up his hands. "I swear it's not what you think."

"Care to enlighten me?" she challenged.

"Okay, I shouldn't have lost my temper like that. But seeing what you've been through, I couldn't help it. I was looking out for you, that's all."

"Of course he was," Leo muttered.

"Yeah, unlike you."

"Why don't you come over here and say that again?"

"Guys!" Piper hollered, stretching her arms out in the space dividing them. "What is this, high school? You're behaving worse than teenage boys."

The men took her comment to heart and satisfied themselves with glowering at one another.

Sighing, Piper stroked the back of her head and asked herself why she bothered. What was up with Dan? He was supposed to have moved on according to her wish to the genie. Unless the wish was wearing out, or the genie had been a bloody trickster all along, the situation should never have degenerated like this. Her heart squeezed in mid-beat as a worrying possibility hit her. Dan's feelings must be stronger than she had previously estimated.

"We have to settle this," Piper said through clenched teeth.

Luckily for them, and not so much for her, they were spared from answering by a resounding crash from the attic.

"What was that?" Dan exclaimed, eyes popping.

Piper exchanged nervous glances with Leo. He appeared to share the same sentiment as her. _Something was wrong_. The three strolled out of the room and when Piper was halfway up the stairs, she turned to Dan who remained at the bottom. "Dan, do you mind waiting here?"

"No, go ahead," he said, perplexed.

It was like the days before Leo had become an Elder. They didn't need to verbalize their thoughts to each other as Piper flexed her fingers to use her power and Leo followed close behind—so close that he brushed against her shoulder. They crept up the stairs to the attic and Piper called uncertainly. "Chris?"

Another noise gave Piper the image of a body smashing into wood. Dan flew out of their minds completely. Her hand sprang the doorknob when Chris yelled from inside, "Spira Demons!"


	5. Converging Points

Disclaimer: It's for the best that Charmed isn't mine. Brad Kern would have been out of a job a lot sooner.

**Chapter 5: Converging Points **

The attic door smashed into the wall, pulling the demons' attention away from Chris to Piper and Leo.

"Witch!" hissed the leader, swinging his right hand in a wide arc. Four blades launched from his fingers in a straight line towards the couple. Piper gasped and raised her arms in front of her chest. The blades halted in midair mere inches from her open hands. Leo seized Piper's arm and yanked her out of the way as the projectiles unfroze and a succession of metallic pinging sounded from the doorway.

Chris' vision flashed red for a split second. "Get away from her!"

He pointed his hand at the leader and the female and hurled them into a heap with the bearded demon he had knocked into the potions table. As Chris rushed to tackle the bald male, Leo raced through the cleared space towards Wyatt. He passed through the energy shield, scooped the toddler in his arms and orbed out.

"Get Phoebe and Paige!" Chris yelled at Leo's vanishing form. He wrestled with the bald male, who rolled over and flipped Chris on his back. The pain hardly registered in his spine when the Spira Demon rammed his foot into his chest and held up a clawed hand to skewer him. Before Chris could react, the demon lurched sideways as his triumphant cry warped into a howl of agony. Instead of exploding, the demon pressed his fist against the burned, bloody hole in his shoulder he received from Piper.

Chris scrambled to his feet. Piper ran to his side. "You can't blow them up," he panted, "and freezing won't work either."

"Yeah, I can see that!" said Piper.

The Spira Demons reformed into a line. The leader's sneer was gone, replaced by a feral snarl. They closed in on Chris and Piper like an oncoming wall and pushed them deeper into the attic. They were screwed and Chris knew it, but his mental calculations for a counter attack warded off his fear. His eyes flashed from the demons to his surroundings in search of anything that might help fend them off. Piper's powers would come in handy; even if she couldn't blow them up, she could still inflict _a lot_ of pain. But, if she was with him, then…

"Piper, where's Dan?" demanded Chris.

"He's downstairs," she answered, deliberately avoiding his eyes.

"What! Are you serious?" Protecting an extra person oblivious to the family secret was the last thing they needed just then.

Four sets of finger blades aimed at their necks prevented Piper from retorting. At that exact moment, a new voice shocked the demons out of their battle stances.

"Is everything okay up there?" bellowed Dan from down below.

Chris turned wildly to Piper. At this rate, keeping their magic a secret was going to be the least of their problems.

"No!" shrilled Piper. "I mean, no, stay where you are! Everything's fine!"

The pair braced themselves for another barrage when something odd happened. The leader beckoned to his team and barked out orders in a guttural demonic tongue. Unable to follow the language, and not liking where it might be headed, Chris' fingers drifted to the glass shards on the floor with the intention of chucking them at the Spira Demons. Too late, they shimmered out together.

Piper blinked at the empty space. "What was that about?"

But Chris' thoughts sped on a whole other track. Spira Demons were more vicious than the average demon; they didn't run from a fight. Not unless there was an innocent nearby to tear apart for the sake of watching blood spill.

"Oh my god. Dan!" breathed Piper, putting a name to the chilling notion.

Chris didn't waste another minute dwelling on the matter. He grabbed her hand and orbed them down to the main floor at the same time the demons shimmered in.

Dan jumped at their sudden appearance and stumbled into the banister at the base of the stairs, the color punched from his face. Both groups had popped out of nowhere, but his eyes were fixed on Piper.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed.

"No time to explain," said Chris. "Get down!"

Dan waited too long to act on his order. The female demon swiped at him with her claws and would have hit her mark had Chris not used his telekinesis to shove him out of the way. He was so focused on protecting Dan that he failed to hear Piper's warning shout. A demon's arm struck him in the head from behind. The impact set off colored stars in his vision and he careened forward until he slapped his hand against a side table to break his fall.

In the short span Chris took to recover, more shrieks filled the manor. Piper, outnumbered four to one, blew up the enemy over and over again. Bits of flesh and green blood sprayed on the floor and walls. A mortal riddled with that many holes in his body would've been long dead, but all it did was slow down the Spira Demons somewhat.

Meanwhile, Dan ducked into the living room where he almost plowed into a new set of orbs solidifying into Paige and Phoebe.

"Dan, what are you doing here?" asked a stunned Phoebe.

"Ph-phoebe?" Dan stuttered. To Paige, he said, "Who are you?"

Paige, confused by the presence of what was, to her, a stranger, deflected the question back at him. "Who am I? Who are you?"

"Behind you!" said Chris.

Three of the demons charged after the new arrivals, prompting Chris to fling a vase at them. His head still ached too much for his aim to be accurate, and the vase shattered into a corner.

"Knives!" Paige called.

The nails dissolved in a flurry of orbs from the bald demon's fingers, reappeared in her right hand and impaled the trio in the chest and stomach. They convulsed and choked, then proceeded to slide the blades out one by one with tortured grimaces. Once the bloody blades clattered to the ground, they donned maniacal smiles in response to the shock stamped on Phoebe and Paige's faces, never mind Dan's.

It should have ended there. The Power of Three was now at their disposal, except Piper wasn't anywhere near her sisters. Chris whirled to where he'd last seen her and caught the leader bearing down on her. In doing so, he pushed her further into the hallway away from everyone else. The leader's clothes were soaked in blood, yet unlike his followers, Piper's combustive power did little more than make him twitch.

Conflicted, Chris didn't know whose aid to run to at first: Piper's or her sisters'. What happened next snatched the decision away from him.

The leader brushed off Piper's last assault and reached her in a single bound. With one swift motion, he plunged his hand into her side. Piper let out a strangled noise.

"NO!" shouted Chris.

Despite being blocked by the demons, Paige and Phoebe saw what had transpired too. They fought to break past their attackers to no avail. Their screams blared out of sync with each other. "Piper! Piper!"

From that point, Chris perceived the scene in slow motion. The leader yanked his blades out and coldly observed Piper crumple to the floor. Chris was instantly in the Spira demon's face without remembering how he got there and rammed him telekinetically into the wall. There was a cracking sound and the demon sagged unconscious against the plaster surface, his head twisted at an awkward angle.

Chris' sense of reality spun out of control save for the one sliver before him. He got down and rolled Piper onto her back. Her breathing was ragged; her eyes fluttered closed and her pulse was fading too fast. Applying pressure against the wound with his hands had no effect whatsoever. The blood continued to gush from the five punctures below her ribs and if he couldn't stop it, she was going to bleed to death.

Just like the Event.

No! He wouldn't let history repeat itself. It wasn't her time yet.

Chris lifted his gaze to the ceiling. "Leo, I need you! Leo!"

Every ounce of him prayed for Leo to answer him. The Leo of his future never did, but surely he would come for his wife's sake. Chris might not have mattered to his father, but Piper and Wyatt always had.

He was vaguely aware of himself clasping her hand in his. "You'll be all right. Stay with me, Mom. Please, stay with me…" Chris pleaded softly. The seconds crawled by and still no orbs to signify the Elder's arrival.

Where was Leo? Did he want Piper to die? Chris looked up. Leo was standing there with Wyatt in his arms. He must have orbed in without him noticing and, for some reason, he was gaping at Chris like he'd never seen him before.

The Elder's lack of movement infuriated him. "What are you waiting for?" roared Chris. "Heal her!"

Leo shook out of his daze and dropped down to his knees. After shifting Wyatt on his lap, he placed his hands over her side. The ten-second wait for the warm golden glow was agonizing. The extent of her injuries became obvious. A longer delay on Leo's part could have been fatal. When the healing glow came at last, the anguish swept out of Chris' system.

Piper was up in a flash, though her would-be killer's body did not escape her notice. She gave Chris a questioning glance and Leo a grateful one.

In the living room, Phoebe's leg lashed out in a roundhouse kick. It caught the female in the stomach and another kick and punch did the same to the males. The distraction gave Piper, Leo and Chris the opening they needed to rejoin her and Paige. Chris stepped aside for the three sisters to draw together as a united front.

"Okay," said Piper, returning to war mode, "What do we have to do to get rid of these guys?"

"The spell's in the book, but…" Chris trailed off. "It's in the attic!"

"Not a problem," said Paige. "Book of Shadows!"

The book materialized in Paige's outstretched hands. They flipped through the pages for the spell just as the Spira Demons realized their leader was down and that their demise was near. They lunged at Chris in a last ditch attempt to take him out, but they were stopped part way when the Charmed Ones chanted the spell.

"_Hear the words that we recite,_

_Banish this evil from the light,_

_Find a place for them to dwell,_

_Forever in the depths of hell."_

An invisible force hoisted them the off the floor and blue flames engulfed them with such intensity that everyone had to look away, or shield their eyes. The demons kicked and screamed in midair before the spell ripped them apart in a blast that rocked the manor on its foundations. A flare in the hallway indicated that the leader was incinerated along with the rest of his kind.

The vanquish had been a flashy one, but not a trace remained of the demons themselves.

The Halliwell family breathed a collective sigh of relief. Paige orbed the book upstairs while Leo passed Wyatt to Piper's waiting arms. Piper squeezed Wyatt to her chest and Phoebe and Paige clustered around their nephew, cooing. Chris, however, wasn't ready to celebrate yet.

"Uh, guys? We have a bit of a problem."

The sisters stopped what they were doing. They followed his line of sight until they rested on Dan. Their mouths formed into O's of shock.

Dan was doing a good impression of a corpse in Chris' opinion. His pallor had become tinged with green and his eyes were so wide they threatened to roll out of their sockets. His jaw shook as though he wanted to speak, but couldn't find the right words. Considering he'd witnessed knife-wielding demons and the Charmed Ones' display of power, Chris didn't blame him.

How were they going to explain their way out of this? Chris was out of ideas for once. Piper was going to have to do the talking. She knew Dan the best after all. Then there was Leo. Chris hadn't paid much heed to him since Piper's healing because the man was starting to weird him out. He couldn't, for the life of him, understand why Leo was looking at him like that.


	6. The Median of the Matter

Disclaimer: I can't claim Charmed as my own. That's personal gain.

**Chapter 6: The Median of the Matter **

Chris was his son. Chris Perry, the man he'd distrusted and resented since his arrival from the future, was his son.

Leo felt like a drowning man in a sea of vertigo. His head was spinning too fast and he swayed on the spot as if the world was about to slip sideways with him. It was only because of Wyatt that he hadn't keeled over already, but Piper and the sisters wished to hold him too, so he let them. Without his little boy to anchor him, Leo focused on Chris, the very source of his internal conflict. His other boy.

At first, he tried to deny it. He tried to convince himself that he'd misheard, or that Chris was lying. When Chris' panic-stricken call had resounded in his ears, Leo had orbed back to the house as soon as possible. The sight of Piper unconscious and bleeding on the floor had sucked away all semblance of calm on his part and he raced over to heal her. He never dreamed that anything could distract him from the danger Piper was in, but something Chris let slip had caused him to stop dead in his tracks.

No, it wasn't his imagination. Chris' tormented expression, the desperate quality in his voice in the heat of the battle? It was real. The sisters suffered countless near-death experiences before, but this was different somehow. A chill crept under his skin as Leo wondered what could have elicited that kind of reaction from Chris. Until the idea had been planted in his head, he'd never noticed his resemblance to Piper, or the Halliwells in general. How could he have missed it? Chris and Piper shared the same dark hair, face shape and stubborn set in their jaws. He was her son through and through. The one exception was his eyes; the green color mirrored his own.

Even as he awed at the revelation, Leo sank in shame at his past actions towards his own son. He'd been oblivious to Chris' identity back then, but that didn't justify some of the things he'd uttered to him. He'd treated complete strangers better than that.

_Son of a bitch!_

_ You're not family._

_ Why should we believe you after all the lies? _

He had to tell Chris how sorry he was. An apology wouldn't come close to repairing the damage, but it was a step up from doing nothing. He was lucky if Chris didn't hate him. The only snag was that Chris didn't know that he knew, or at least he didn't act like he did. Leo had to assume he genuinely didn't know. The bewilderment that clouded Chris' brow, when he caught Leo staring at him, was too spontaneous to be faked.

Furthermore, there was Dan to deal with. Leo sighed. He felt a sliver of sympathy for him. The reality of magic blindsided most mortals, usually in a bad way. Getting caught in the middle of a vanquish was definitely not the best way to introduce someone to it.

That didn't prevent the sinking feeling in his gut as he watched Piper reach out to Dan.

"We can explain," she pleaded.

"Oh yeah? How?" Dan croaked.

Piper struggled to phrase the simple, yet loaded, statement. "The thing is, we're… we're witches."

"Witches," he echoed, deadpan. "Is this supposed to be a joke?"

"It's not." Phoebe advanced to stand with Piper, leaving Wyatt in Paige's care. "We're good witches. We use our magic to fight evil like the demons you saw." At the mention of demons, Dan twitched. "I know it's a lot to take in."

"We never intended for you to find out this way. I should have told you sooner," said Piper sadly.

He didn't respond and used that moment to recollect himself. He steadied on his own two feet, but his voice wobbled when he said, "Let me get this straight. You're _all _witches?"

Leo was quick to correct him. "Not all of us."

"What? Then what are you?" Dan's voice leaped in pitch as though Leo held the ultimate bombshell. It wasn't far from the truth—Leo had been the most nagging enigma to him above everything else in the past. Was magic—he swallowed the word with difficulty—the reason?

"I'm an Elder, which is sort of like an upper level guardian angel. I'm the same Leo Wyatt who died in World War Two," said Leo. It was strange to retell this fact about himself.

"Guardian angel?" Beyond that, Dan was lost. Witches were unbelievable, but they were more grounded than angels or dead people coming back to life. Piper had known this about Leo the entire time. It was too much for his taxed brain to digest.

Paige spoke up. "Yep. I don't believe I got to introduce myself. I'm Paige Matthews."

"You're Paige?"

"That's me. Nice to meet you." She extended her hand to Dan, which he didn't take. He was too absorbed by the green blood staining the floor. Not red. Green. Proof that those things weren't human.

Paige followed his gaze and mumbled her disapproval. "That's going to be a pain to clean." She didn't wait for her sisters to agree and recited the Vanishing Spell.

"_Let the object of objection become but a dream,  
As I cause the scene to be unseen."_

Sparkles rained down on the offending area and bathed it in a white light. The light faded to reveal a spotless surface. That last magical display was the last straw. Dan sprinted past them and slammed the front door behind him.

"Dan, wait!" Piper yanked the door open and disappeared after him into the street.

The rest of the Halliwell family didn't move as a stunned silence filled the air. Wyatt, who had been quiet up until that point, squeaked for their attention. Paige bounced the boy in her arms and informed him in a babyish tone that his mommy would be away for a while, but that returning to his crib would make her happy. Wyatt understood the gist of her message and orbed himself to his room.

"Maybe you should have waited until Dan was gone to use the spell," said Phoebe wryly after Wyatt was gone.

Paige blushed. "My bad. I thought that it wouldn't be a huge deal compared to the demons. I guess I was wrong." She proceeded to the door with the intention of going out herself. "Should we go after them?"

Phoebe shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. Dan is spooked enough as it is. I could feel it. Having all three of us there would be too overwhelming for him."

She wasn't one to argue with an advice columnist with empathic abilities. "Okay then," agreed Paige. She closed the door and smiled as she spun in Phoebe's direction. "So that was the great Dan, huh? Piper told me about him once, and I can see why she went for him. Muscular, good-looking."

"No way!" said Chris and Leo in unison. Chris eyed Leo sharply before stepping away from him.

Phoebe regarded them with some bemusement. "You two are on the same wavelength again?" she said in reference to their behavior during the Manticores incident. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing," said Leo hastily.

There was a beat, and then Phoebe chuckled. "Oh. I see what it is."

"What?" asked an intrigued Paige.

"Piper used to date Dan before…" Phoebe hummed the wedding march, "and now he's back after they're separated. No offense, Leo," she apologized. She hadn't truly agreed with Piper's decision to split up with him, but at the same time, she couldn't bring herself to argue if that was what she wanted.

Paige caught on to Phoebe's point. "Oooooh." She bunched her mouth to one side. "Yeah, that's kind of awkward."

Chris, having been present at Leo and Dan's reunion, thought that was a huge understatement. Paige rested a hand on her hip and waved the other at Leo. "But Leo here is way too classy to let that sort of thing get to him," she said. "Right?"

Rather than confirm or deny Paige's assumption, Leo shifted uncomfortably on the spot.

"Leo?"

Phoebe folded her arms. "All right, what did you do?" she questioned, but she didn't sound angry, more like curious.

Flustered by the interrogation, Leo became defensive. "It's nothing," he repeated.

"I wouldn't call punching the guy nothing," Chris butted in, latching on to yet another chance to push Leo's buttons. He half-expected him to round on him and bust a vein for ratting him out. He was wrong. Though Leo's cheeks were flushed, it didn't stem from anger. If anything, he seemed more uncomfortable after appraising Chris out of the corner of his eye.

Well, that was odd.

Paige and Phoebe's jaws dropped. "What!" they chorused. For once, they took Chris at his word since Leo's guilty fidgeting backed it up.

"That's real mature, Leo," remarked Paige.

Phoebe said, "Are Elders even allowed to hit people?"

"Not really," Leo admitted. "As pacifists, we're only supposed to use violence as a last resort."

"Last resort. Right," said Paige, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Don't worry. Leo will be the model Elder eventually." Chris couldn't keep the bitterness from his voice. He hoped no one picked it up on it.

"If you say so," drawled Paige. "Speaking of violence, Chris. Can you explain something to me?"

Leo exhaled at the change in subject. Chris, however, wasn't so keen on it. "Yeah?"

"You know those demons we eighty-sixed? I thought you said they weren't going to attack anytime soon."

"Oh," he said. The sisters kept forgetting that being from the future didn't mean he was all knowing. At least this wasn't as bad as Piper's accusations prior to the demon attack. "Um... My intel was faulty."

He was worried Paige would interrogate him on the nature of his intel, but thankfully, she didn't. He didn't feel as bad about lying this time because technically, it wasn't a lie. He was just excluding certain details. He doubted it would go over well if the sisters found out that he'd been the real target, or that his escapades in the Underworld were drawing unwanted attention from the very beings he sought to vanquish.

"Ah, that's okay. Better luck next time." Paige had always been the most easygoing of his aunts, and for that Chris was glad. Had it been Piper, he would have been in hot water for sure.

"But wait, did we get them all? We should be prepared if there's more on the way," said Phoebe.

"There won't be. Trust me."

"He's right," Paige confirmed. She had picked up the Book of Shadows again and was scanning the entry for Spira Demons. "The guys we vanquished were like the head honchos or something. Without a leader, the rest of them will, hopefully, destroy themselves." She wrinkled her nose at another part. "Ewww. Listen to this. 'A new recruit undergoes a ritual that completes his or her assimilation into the Spira Demons' ranks. The ritual involves tearing out the fingernails and inserting blades in their place. The blades are infused with magic so that the users have an unlimited supply at their disposal in battle."

This information wasn't new to Chris, but Phoebe and Leo shared Paige's look of disgust.

"Good thing we kicked their asses when we did. Anyway, Pheebs," said Paige, switching to yet another subject. "Do you want me to orb you back to Jason's place?"

"That's nice of you, but I'm going to wait here for Piper. I have a feeling she might need our support later. Dan wasn't too receptive about magic the first time he found out and today might not be any different."

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Okay, I'll stay too."

"Let's wait in the kitchen. And Chris—"

"I got some things to do," said Chris before Phoebe could get a word in. They'd vanquished the Spira Demons sooner than he expected. He'd have to restructure his demon-hunting schedule. Being in the manor was stifling as well, maybe because of the recent chaos. "I'll catch up with you later?"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. You guys go on ahead."

Phoebe chose not to push him. In the short span they'd known him, Chris often kept to himself when there wasn't a crisis. "Okay. See you later."

Chris orbed out of the manor and when his body reformed, the familiar purple walls of P3 greeted him. He walked past the poster-plastered walls and tables to the sink behind the bar counter. He scrubbed his bloody fingertips as hard as he could under the running water with soap before drying them off on a towel. Despite being washed off physically, Piper's blood was still visible in his mind. She'd come way too close to dying because of his sloppiness in a manner eerily similar to the Event. It had to be Fate's twisted way of reminding him what would happen if he didn't change the future.

The gory image continued to haunt him as he strolled into the office he used as his living quarters. While the room itself was tidy, the state of his desk reflected his inner turmoil. Papers and sticky notes covered in his cursive scrawl cluttered the desk in no particular order. A few potion vials also littered one corner.

He slid Wyatt's toy block from his pocket and placed it next to the vials. After he seated himself, he drew out a checklist from the mess and crossed out the Spira Demons.

Footsteps by the entrance startled him out of his writing. Out of his peripheral vision, Chris recognized Leo. Terrific. It was always bad news for him if Leo went out of his way to pursue him.

"Can I help you?" he demanded without taking his eyes from his work.

"I need to talk to you."

"Get in line," muttered Chris. Undoubtedly, Leo had more threats up his sleeve about recycling his soul. He did that whenever he screwed up in front of him, which seemed to happen more often than he liked.

"Now, please?"

The firm undertone in Leo's words made Chris look up and the pen slipped from his grip. One glance at the Elder, and he realized that perhaps sarcasm wasn't the smartest move. Deciding he'd rather stand for whatever Leo had in store for him, Chris got out of his chair and realized why this scenario felt so familiar.

Leo had the same steely glint in his eyes like when he'd attacked him with a sword in Valhalla.


	7. Bent Out of Shape, Part I

Disclaimer: Charmed isn't mine.

**Chapter 7: Bent Out of Shape, Part I **

Chris shrugged and gestured, palms facing out, to Leo. "You wanted to talk. So talk."

While the steely glint didn't leave his eyes, Leo's shoulders visibly slumped. Unnerved, Chris wasn't sure what to make of his motives. If he was really bent on recycling his soul, his body language didn't show it, and Chris couldn't think of any other reason why Leo would follow him to P3. His patience began to erode when the Elder failed to speak up.

"If that's all, I'm out of here."

Leo's words spilled out in a rush before he could leave. "Maybe talk isn't the right word. It's more of a question."

"Okay," said Chris, stretching out the second syllable. He tapped his foot, waiting for him get on with it.

"Do Piper and I have any more kids after Wyatt?"

Of the things he predicted Leo would ask about, family matters weren't on the list. What a random question.

Chris narrowed his eyes. "You know I can't answer that." Saying 'yes' alone would open a huge can of worms. "Future consequences, remember?"

"I remember."

"Then why…?"

"We thought about having more kids," said Leo. "I assumed you'd know if we did since you are from the future."

So that was it. Leo wasn't over his grudge towards his 'rival', even though he was unlikely to return because of his attitude toward magic. He was checking in a roundabout way that his future was Dan-free. Leo's motives sounded shallow and harmless enough, so Chris let himself relax a little. He could have ended the conversation right there. He should have left well enough alone, but something else about Leo's inquiry nagged at him.

"So what if I did? It's not like you'd have time for another child. You barely see Wyatt as it is."

"I'll _make_ the time. Watching over the world is important, but my family comes first," declared Leo, "and I always thought it would be good for Wyatt to have a sibling."

The earnestness in his reply left Chris speechless. The man before him spoke with obvious affection for his theoretical second child, which didn't gel at all with the neglectful father Chris knew in the future. Was it possible that Leo _had_ cared about him once, before he'd been old enough to remember? It wasn't a comforting thought. If anything, it made Chris' dislike for Leo increase tenfold—because if it was true, it meant the man had changed at some point, and none of the excuses for why were remotely adequate.

Chris hastened to steer their conversation elsewhere before he blurted something he might regret later.

"Sorry, can't help you," he said. "I'm the wrong person to talk to about this. Take it up with Piper."

With that, he turned and strode towards the door.

Leo watched Chris' retreating figure, unwilling to let him go yet. He'd held out a faint hope that Chris would verify his identity himself, not that more proof was needed. Leo felt his willpower slipping away like sand cupped in his hands. He couldn't pretend that they were just Elder and Whitelighter anymore.

"You mean Mom?"

Chris froze. Slowly, he craned his head over his shoulder, his eyes wide. "Excuse me?"

"You called Piper that earlier." It didn't click. "When the demons attacked," Leo continued at Chris' blank stare.

Chris fast-forwarded through the incident in his head. Most of it was a haze since it had flown by so fast. He did recall dropping to his knees beside Piper's unconscious form and babbling things, and Leo's astounded expression. No, it couldn't be. Leo's delay in healing Piper, his edginess afterwards, and the troubled looks he kept giving him at the manor…

Oh god, he knew.

Nausea overran Chris' stomach and kicked the air from his lungs. Afraid he might vomit, he closed his eyes and retreated into the temporary blackness to sort out his panicked thoughts.

How could he let the secret he worked so hard to keep for months go to waste in one slip-up? A stupid slip-up he didn't remember that clearly. He was losing it if he couldn't keep track of his own actions. Worse, his emotions must have cracked through his facade because when he opened his eyes again, he caught Leo watching him in concern.

He had to pull himself together. Chris inhaled twice and forced himself to straighten up. He might not be able to talk his way out of the situation with lies, but he didn't have to cooperate either.

"So what?" he demanded. "It doesn't change anything."

Leo couldn't believe the carelessness he heard in Chris' tone. "Of course it does. You're my son!"

Chris folded his arms, trying to appear as contemptuous as possible. "I still don't see how that makes a difference."

The Elder heaved a sigh. Perhaps it was naiveté on his part, but he hadn't expected Chris to be so dismissive of his relation to him. Considering they'd been horrible to him ever since he came into their lives, Leo knew he had no right to be defensive. "Chris, I don't blame you for being angry with us, especially me," he started to say.

"I'm not angry," Chris overrode him. The contempt never once left his expression. "Why should I be? I don't expect anything less from you."

"Please, Chris, I'm—"

"Sorry?" Chris finished for him, and some of his anger finally slipped through his show of indifference. "Where was your so-called apology when you didn't know who I was yet?"

His statement stabbed at Leo's conscience. It was true that he did see Chris in a different light after finding out he was his son. And yet, Leo wanted—needed_—_to believe that things between them had been improving long before his newfound knowledge. In spite of their previous friction, Leo had been sincere when he'd given his trust to Chris last week on the bridge.

Chris wasn't done. "This is pointless. The important thing is that we focus on Wyatt. That's why we're here. Besides, you might get lucky and certain things won't happen anyway."

Leo shook his head at his obvious attempts to change the subject until he noticed the cryptic meaning in his last sentence. With a jolt, Leo compared the timing of his separation from Piper with Chris' age, and stumbled on a disturbing conclusion. "You split up me and Piper before you were born. Why would you do something like that, Chris?"

He dreaded the answer, but his morbid curiosity was stronger. How could anyone be so willing to risk his own existence?

"That wasn't supposed to happen," murmured Chris. It was one of the few things he was willing to admit to the Elder. Although Chris was aware that the timeline could change unpredictably, his parents' bond had been one of the few things he'd been confident would stay the same. To see Leo leave Piper and Wyatt without a second thought had almost destroyed his faith in his mission before he'd begun. In that regard, Dan was dead on about Leo's tendency to act when it was convenient for him.

"I've got a real question for you," said Chris. "Why did it take Piper's ex-boyfriend for you to finally do something? Not that I care either way."

"I think you do care." Leo refrained from mentioning that an indifferent person wouldn't have reacted the way Chris did to Dan and Piper.

"Don't act like you know me!" snarled Chris, unable to keep his voice level in the face of the Elder's self-righteous hypocrisy.

"This isn't just about the present, is it? Something happened in the future. What did I do that was so bad?"

Chris raised his chin defiantly. He didn't owe him any explanations. "Figure it out yourself."

Leo envisioned several possibilities each one grimmer than the last. He had so little knowledge of the future that most of it was wild speculation. "What kind of father was I to make you hate me so much? I'm trying to help, but I can't do that if you don't tell me anything."

Chris didn't notice the gap closing between them until Leo was close enough to grab his arm if he chose to. "I don't need your help." He jabbed a finger at Leo. "I don't need _you_."

Suddenly, the office felt too small, like a solid cage. The day's trials caught up to Chris and drained the energy out of him. Without the anger to prop him up, his mind and body were on the verge of collapsing. He was tired of Leo and this interrogation. Chris thought back to the day his father had skipped his tenth birthday and drew upon words he'd fantasized using for years, but never had the nerve.

"Anyone would be a better father than you," he declared and orbed out, completely missing the tears that welled in Leo's eyes.

* * *

Dan speed-walked down the street at a pace that bordered on running. He had no idea where he was going, just that he needed to get out of the neighborhood as soon as possible. Rapid movement eased some of the pressure in his body, so he held off flagging a cab for a few minutes. Upon slowing down to dial his cell phone, he heard Piper call his name. With a sigh, he pocketed his phone and waited for her to catch up to him.

Her imploring look stirred pangs of guilt that he suppressed. Better to reaffirm his stance before she dished out some flimsy excuse.

"I don't know how you expect me to react to your secret, but I don't..." He paused. He needed a better way to describe it. "I'm really sorry you told me. I wish you never did, I wish I never saw what I saw. I never imagined things like that even existed."

The specter of déjà vu chilled Piper to her core. "Whoa. That is freaky."

"What is?"

"That's what you said last time," Piper said, dazed. "Word for word."

"Last time?" repeated Dan. He was thankful the street was empty except for him and Piper. A conversation about witchcraft was stressful enough without passersby overhearing.

"Y-yeah." Piper wrung her hands and tilted her gaze to the cement. "A few years ago, we had a run-in with a dragon warlock and a genie and you got… involved."

"Huh?" Dragon warlocks? Whatever those were. Genies? What was she rambling about? "How come I don't remember this?"

"Because I made a wish for you to forget."

"You WHAT?" he yelled.

"That's not exactly how I put it," Piper amended. "I told the genie that I wanted you to move on with your life."

Dan's hearing shut down after 'move on with your life'. Her lips kept moving, but her voice didn't reach his ears. It all added up. The blank in his memory he'd mused over for years was Piper's double life as a witch. It explained why his depression seemed to lift overnight and why leaving San Francisco had been so easy. Piper, the genie, or whoever, had casted a spell to manipulate his feelings. Knowing people out there had that kind of power left a bitter taste in his mouth and a feeling that he'd been violated somehow.

"You used magic on me," he said flatly.

"I didn't have a choice," Piper fired back. "You didn't take it well when you found out about us."

"Oh, really. How do you think I feel now?"

Piper didn't reply and sagged against a pole. A shudder passed through her frame. "I'll be honest with you, Dan. No more secrets or lies, just the truth. Before the dragon warlock, I was debating whether to tell you I was a witch. It wasn't fair of me to hide such an important part of myself from you. Then everything changed when the genie twisted a wish I made by accident that—" Telling Dan the actual details was out of the question— "affected you. We were able to reverse the damage, but you wouldn't talk to me when I visited you at your house."

Dan finished it for her. "When that didn't work, you got the genie to put a curse on me."

"No, it wasn't a curse! I made that second wish because I wanted to spare you the pain of remembering the horrible things you saw. I couldn't leave things the way they were. Maybe it wasn't the best move," Piper conceded. She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "I should have let you come to terms with it on your own. I'm sorry."

It was the perfect spot for him to tell her off and bolt, and he couldn't do it. What Piper said made sense from a logical point of view. Based on her story, the circumstances of four years ago boiled down to an accident that had spun out of control. Twice, he'd been caught in an incident that had put Piper in an awkward position, and he wasn't so blameless himself; His past and present reactions to her secret verified her fears that didn't leave her with a lot of options, witch or not.

Dan doubted he would ever comprehend the supernatural, but he was willing to try for her sake. Piper had done what she did because she cared about him.

"I have to think about it." On the other hand, there was no guarantee he wouldn't change his mind again. To avoid raising her hopes, he warned. "I can't promise anything."

She didn't argue. "I understand."

"Thanks," said Dan. "I guess this is good-bye for a while."

"Hmm." She didn't have the heart to verbally express a good-bye.

Dan inclined his head towards her before whirling to trudge down the street. After he vanished around a corner, Piper pushed herself off the pole with some effort and plodded back to the manor. Her canceled date seemed like a lifetime ago and somewhere along the way, evening overtook the sky.

It would take a miracle for Dan to accept her Wiccan heritage within his weeklong stay in San Francisco. In her personal experience, stuff like that needed a month minimum, time that Dan didn't have. If he didn't return, she wouldn't hold it against him. It was the price of being a Charmed One.


	8. Bent Out of Shape, Part II

Disclaimer: Charmed isn't mine.

**Chapter 8: Bent out of Shape, Part II **

Phoebe and Paige converged on Piper as soon as she set foot in the kitchen.

"How did it go?" asked Paige.

Piper averted her eyes and walked past them to rest her arms on the counter. Though she hadn't spoken, her body language told them everything they needed to know. Their faces sobered as they went over to join her. As witches, none of them were strangers to her situation. Some crises over the years had forced them to reveal their secret to innocents or loved ones and if they were lucky, the person's opinion would be neutral at best. With Dan, it was the worst-case scenario.

"I'm sorry about Dan," said Phoebe quietly.

"So am I." Piper clasped her hands together and rested her chin on them.

"What happened?" said Paige.

In a low, tired voice, she told them how she caught up with Dan a couple of blocks from the house and the conversation that entailed. Phoebe and Paige listened without interruption, nodding in sympathy when she described Dan's reaction to what the genie had done to him. At the end of her account, Piper massaged her temples and moaned, "This must have been how Prue felt when Andy found out, and look what happened to them."

Phoebe saw where Piper's thoughts were going and reassured her, "Honey, this isn't your fault."

"Isn't it?" She pushed her fingertips deeper into the sides of her head. "I don't even know why I'm making a big deal out of this. I broke up with Dan a long time ago. I've moved on with my life."

Drawing on her psychology background, Phoebe tried to help her older sister analyze her emotions. "Why do you think you care so much?"

"I guess I feel kind of responsible for him. The whole time we dated, I was lying to him. Not only that I was a witch, but about Leo too. It took me awhile to see that Leo was the one for me. By then, I was too involved with Dan to break up with him without hurting him. In a way, I used Dan until I figured myself out."

"I didn't get the impression you used him," argued Paige. "That's not you."

Phoebe added to her younger sister's assessment. "You're being too hard on yourself." Though her empathic abilities hadn't existed in those days, Piper and Dan's affection for one another had been real. Were she alive, Prue would have agreed. "You really did love him."

"I just loved Leo more," said Piper.

Phoebe traded tentative glances with Paige. Curious as they were, they didn't dare ask if she still did. Piper was oblivious to their exchange. Her concentration strayed to the microwave clock, which displayed the time as being close to six-thirty. In another lifetime, she would've been at dinner with Greg. Amazing how one visitor at her doorstep could change everything. She didn't have a replacement meal planned, but she was more than prepared to improvise a pasta dish.

While she pulled out the necessary pans and ingredients, she threw out a dinner invitation to her sisters. Phoebe declined, having already eaten breakfast with Jason due to the fifteen-hour time difference. Paige offered to stay once she orbed Phoebe back to Hong Kong and commented that it was a shame their 'neurotic Whitelighter' couldn't join them to fill up the table.

The reference to Chris reminded Piper that she hadn't made up for wrongfully taking her anger out on him. Chagrined, she rounded on her sisters. "Where did Chris go?"

"He said he was busy. As usual." Paige rolled her eyes.

"Chris?" Piper shouted. "Chris!" He didn't answer. He must be in the Underworld, or worse, her yelling got through, but he tuned it out.

As a result, dinner with Wyatt and Paige wasn't as calming as it should have been. Paige reiterated that she and Phoebe were an orb away if she needed the and left after helping with the dishes. When she was alone, Piper tried calling Chris again with no success.

The next few days passed like this. She didn't hear from Chris or Dan. No demons shimmered in to attack. Any other time, Piper would have rejoiced at having several normal days in a row, but now she felt trapped in limbo. Managing the house and P3 did little to take her mind off her Whitelighter. In between intervals, she called for Chris who didn't appear. It wasn't unusual for him to be absent for days on end, but her conscience haunted her.

Once, she considered getting Leo to sense for Chris, and then discarded the idea. She couldn't think about Leo without cringing. His brawl with Dan not withstanding, Piper had supposed their relationship beyond salvaging after his choice to linger Up There. Was she wrong about them? Could they work things out? She hated to raise her hopes only for them to crash down in disappointment. It scared her.

As for Chris, he showed up on his own accord. On the third day since Dan's arrival, she spotted him in the kitchen reaching into the potion ingredients cupboard.

"Chris, there you are."

He hadn't expected her company and winced. "Hi, Piper. I'm not staying long," he said. He sounded anxious, like he thought he was trespassing. He held up a stringy herb. "I just need this for a vanquishing potion."

"Hold on, Chris." Piper latched onto his arm to prevent him from leaving. "I owe you an apology. I was wrong to blame you for what happened with Dan and Leo. I was really mad at them, not you. I don't say it often enough, but I appreciate everything you've done for us."

Chris squinted. Then he shook his head when he grasped what she was referring to. "No worries. I've already forgotten about it."

Piper was unconvinced. She got a better look at him and noted the dark shadows under his eyes and the tension in his neck. "You have?"

"I've had other things on my mind," he shrugged. Her sincere attempts to make amends earned her a faint smile from Chris.

Too bad he couldn't tell her what was really going on. He hadn't had a destination in mind when he'd orbed away from Leo, and ended up in a random downtown alley as the price. Brimming with fury, he'd caved into his urge to hit something and punched the nearest cement wall. His hand throbbing from the reckless move, he'd sunk against the wall and buried his face in his knees, and didn't move from that spot for hours. He couldn't return to the bridge, the manor, or P3; Leo would search for him there. Just thinking about the Elder constricted his throat with rage. Why, of all people, did his father have to be the one to find out who he was?

Later, Chris orbed to the one place he knew Leo wouldn't find him: his and Bianca's special place. He curled up on the bench at night and visited the Underworld during the day. No matter his emotional state, he forbade himself to abandon his mission. On the second morning away from the manor, he ran into a new problem that required the Book of Shadows and potion ingredients that the Halliwells had in abundance.

Piper waited too long to smile back. Chris' expression soured as he asked, "Has Leo been around lately?"

"Leo? No, he hasn't."

"Will he be here anytime soon?"

"I have no idea," said Piper, baffled. Leo came and went whenever he pleased. Chris knew that, so it was strange that he would ask.

Chris wasn't satisfied with the information about Leo's whereabouts. He'd have to work fast.

Piper surprised him by asking, "Are you avoiding Leo?"

"I'm not avoiding him. When did I say I was?" Chris inched towards the hallway with what he hoped was a casual exterior. "I need to borrow some stuff in the attic. I'll put everything back when I'm done, I promise."

He made good his escape and raced to the attic before he raised Piper's suspicions too much. Chris threw his entire weight against the door, closing it harder than was necessary, and rested his fist on his forehead. If he didn't watch himself, Piper would get wind of his identity too.

* * *

_Anyone would be a better father than you._

Leo couldn't shake off Chris' hateful snarl as he'd uttered those words. The Elder's memory replayed the phrase over and over to the point that he almost believed it himself. He hadn't been there for Chris. Why? He couldn't picture himself neglecting his children—not ever. Chris had never phrased it as such, but his evasive responses had implied it.

_Don't worry. Leo will be the model Elder eventually. _

Groaning, Leo realized the answer hung right in front of him. Without knowing it, he'd been on the very path Chris had hinted at the moment he'd chosen his Elder duties over his family. Though he missed Piper and Wyatt, he hadn't exerted the effort to be with them more often. Not until a certain ex-boyfriend of Piper's had come along. Leo squelched his less than amiable feelings towards _that _person because everything Chris said was true. That was why Leo had been too paralyzed to chase after him right away. By the time he'd shaken himself out of his daze, it was too late to sense for him. Chris had blocked him.

The way Chris had acted, Leo suspected there was more to the story than he let on. There had to be something else he wasn't aware of yet. Except, the one person with that knowledge wouldn't divulge it, let alone care to see him. Regardless, he would track down Chris. Doing nothing would cause history to repeat itself and would further cement his image in Chris' eyes as a neglectful father.

He'd go this instant. He'd…

"The meeting is over, Leo."

Leo sat up in shock. A wizened old man with long white hair was tapping him on the arm. Behind him, the other Elders filed out of the council hall, their hoods pulled over their heads.

He clambered out of his chair. "Roald," murmured Leo. He hadn't heard a single thing during the one-hour assembly. The rest of the council wouldn't be happy. "Forgive me, my mind was elsewhere."

"Clearly," said Roald, sighing. Despite his fragile appearance, he kept up with Leo's brisk strides as they exited the chamber.

The pair wandered into the main area where dozens of Whitelighters were huddled off to the side and clicking in their peculiar language. Leo passed by them for a less crowded corridor. Roald chattered on about the meeting's agenda on the way and stopped when it fell on deaf ears.

"Are you all right? You've been awfully quiet recently," said Roald.

Leo paused to determine if he might offend Roald, who he respected, and opted to take the plunge. "Could we review the agenda later? There's an important matter I need to take care of."

Roald did take offense. "What important matter?"

"It's about my son." Since the Elders remained divided on 'the Whitelighter from the future', it seemed safer to omit Chris' name.

"Nothing was amiss with Wyatt the last time you checked on him."

"My family has to be in danger for me to see them?"

"You're not their Whitelighter," Roald reminded him gently. "You haven't been for months. While I understand the transition for you hasn't been easy for you, it is imperative you don't let your personal desires distract you."

He swallowed back an angry retort. Perhaps Roald meant his advice to be kind, but labeling his family a distraction was a stupid way to do it. "I can't stay," he said. He pulled off his robe, balled it up and dropped the bundle into Roald's arms. He preferred the jeans and t-shirt he wore underneath anyway. "My son needs me."

"Wait, you can't…"

Leo orbed out on him in mid-sentence. The whistling wind in Leo's ears deadened the last of Roald's objections, and he didn't pause to worry about it either. He rematerialized in his and Piper's bedroom, surmising that the manor would be the most obvious to start. He circled around their bed and ran straight to the door. What he didn't expect was for Piper to stroll in from the other direction. Leo braked by grabbing onto the doorframe and remembered he wasn't in their room—it was _hers_.

Piper was the first to recover from their near collision. "What brings you here?" She sounded oddly formal. Her shaky smile suggested she hadn't forgotten about the last occasion they'd been together any more than he had.

Leo scratched the side of his neck for the lack of a better gesture. He did regret hitting Dan somewhat, though not enough to apologize for it. Weeks of fighting for his life in Valhalla had done wonders to unleash his aggressive side. Of course, he'd keep that to himself.

"Chris," stated Leo. "Have you seen him?"

Piper's mouth twitched in bemusement. "You just missed him. He's in the attic."

Leo thanked his lucky stars he wouldn't have to orb up and down the city for his wayward son.

"What is up with you guys?" said Piper, quirking an eyebrow at him. "You've both been acting weird. What secrets are you hiding?"

"There's no secrets." He coughed. "Must be your imagination."

"Uh-uh, that's not going to fly." She marched up to him and stuck her face in his the way she always did when she wanted an answer out of him. "I know you too well to fall for that."

"Okay, you got me," Leo surrendered. "It's about Chris."

Piper motioned for him to continue. "Yes?"

"Chris is … He's…" _Go on, say it_, he instructed himself. Piper deserved to know her Whitelighter was also her son. There was no reason to hide it from her.

Selfishness was a reason. He wasn't ready to share the secret with anyone, not even his wife, when he had yet to atone for his mistakes with Chris. "He and I had a disagreement," he finally said. "I said something, and he got mad."

"Oh, brother." Differences of opinion with Chris weren't new in the Halliwell family, and let Leo's vague explanation slide—for now. "You better go to the attic before he runs off. He can be so stubborn."

Like mother, like son. "I wonder where he gets that from?" Leo chuckled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

As if sensing the physical closeness between them, Leo and Piper sprang back several steps like they'd received an electric shock.

Leo almost tripped over his own feet strolling into the hallway. "R-right, I'll go do that." He tugged at his shirt's collar. Was the room always this warm?

He left Piper behind for the attic stairs. The levity didn't last long and a sense of gloom quickly lapped over him. Chris' obstinacy was equal to Piper's, and the Halliwell side in general. Forget talking to him. Getting him to stay put would be a challenge in itself. He didn't have much of a plan other than to wing it.

The door's opening creak announced his presence. When Leo entered, he steeled himself for the venomous glare that met him inside. Chris stood over a cauldron with the Book of Shadows open next to it. Without taking his eyes off Leo, he dropped an herb into the mix. A blast of smoke erupted from the cauldron, temporarily obscuring him. When the smoke cleared, Chris was preoccupied with the vial and eyedropper in his hands. He didn't react to the door closing, or Leo's approach and subsequent position across from him at the potions table.

"Chris."

The young man dipped the eyedropper in the cauldron. One squeeze of the handle filled the dropper to the top with blue liquid.

"Chris, come on. You can't avoid me forever. We have to talk sooner or later."

"We did talk." He tipped the eyedropper into the vial, released the contents into it, and corked the vial closed.

"I meant without someone orbing out," Leo couldn't help saying.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm busy." Chris held up the vial and pointed at it.

"What's the potion for?" It wasn't relevant to the matter at hand, but he didn't mind so long as it kept Chris talking.

"It's for vanquishing malignant spirits."

"What?"

Chris misinterpreted Leo's shock for ignorance and repeated impatiently, "Malignant spirits. As in vanquished demons that stay earthbound instead of going to the demonic wasteland. There's one in town as we speak. "

"What does it have to do with Wyatt?"

"It doesn't." Annoyance tinged Chris' features. "Just because I'm protecting him doesn't mean I can ignore other innocents, too."

Leo marveled at his dedication. On top of hunting non-stop for potential threats to Wyatt, he managed to deal with unrelated ones as well. Equally impressive was his willingness to take on threats alone that the sisters would have done as a trio. Malignant spirits were more dangerous than the average demon. One wrong move could cost a person his or her life force, the spirit's sustenance for binding themselves to the mortal plane.

"Either way, we're going to finish this conversation," said Leo.

Chris' fist slammed down on the table. "Newsflash: I've got nothing to say to you!"

"Then you can listen. I've been thinking about it and I've come up with a theory. You blame me for Wyatt turning evil, don't you?"

Other than his heavy breathing, Chris was silent. He simply glared at him.

"Am I right?" Leo prodded.

Chris set the potion down and turned towards the window. When he whipped around again, his entire frame shook with rage.

"It's always about you, isn't it? You're not upset because you're worried about what _I _think. You can't handle the fact that you failed to be the perfect father, because that makes _you_ look bad." Chris brought his hand up to his chin as he pretended to deliberate his next point. "Oh, and for the record? Wyatt didn't turn evil because of you, but you sure didn't help." He laughed bitterly. "I told you over and over that something was off with Wyatt and you didn't believe me."

For Leo, it was difficult not to flinch at the bitterness radiating from every sentence. Like a child that didn't like what he was being told, Leo wanted to cover his ears and yell out in denial—but he couldn't if he hoped to fix Chris' future.

"What else?" he asked.

This, Chris did not anticipate. "You're joking, right?"

"I don't care if it's good or bad. Tell me everything."

"There's nothing to tell," sneered Chris.

"What do you mean, 'nothing'?"

"Allow me rephrase that. You did _nothing_ for me unless Wyatt was involved. All I ever got from you were fake apology letters. Hell, you wouldn't even look at me after Mom…" Chris clamped his mouth shut, cursing himself for spilling so much. The Event was one secret he reserved the right to keep.

"Keep going." Leo gestured at him. "You were on a roll."

Chris was tempted to take him up on his offer and unload the rest of his grievances, but his pride wouldn't let him. Giving in to him would be like admitting he did care about his father's opinion. Nor did he like what he perceived to be Leo's mocking tone.

"Forget it," Chris mumbled.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because you're my son. I'm glad you're telling me this. It gives me a chance to stop my mistakes before they happen. Thank you."

Chris fidgeted under his gaze. For all his self-righteous ways, Leo truly was interested in what he had to say. Showing that he _cared_. He'd often wished for this when he was a kid, and if he was being honest with himself, it wasn't as if Leo never noticed him, either. Bigger priorities like Wyatt, Mom, the world and the next supernatural crisis, left little room for him. He was so used to his father overlooking him that his attention now made him feel exposed.

"Screw this," said Chris abruptly, ducking behind his familiar wall of hostility. He swiped the potion vial off the table. "I've got an undead demon to vanquish."

His body dissolved into orbs and drifted out of sight. Leo picked up on his orb trail immediately, and followed suit. Whether Chris liked it or not, he had no intention of giving up.


	9. On Another Tangent

Disclaimer: Not mine. A disclaimer a day keeps the lawyers away.

**Chapter 9: On Another Tangent**

Chris crouched behind the bushes, which afforded him a clear view without being seen. The grassy field before him was far removed from the main trail, surrounded by trees and bushes. No one else was around, as though an invisible force had compelled park goers to avoid the area. Something supernatural was definitely there; he could feel its aura chill the air. At least he wouldn't have to worry about exposing his magic. He twirled the potion vial in his hand, his sight never straying from the grassy field.

A tinkle of orbs flashed in his peripheral vision.

"You!" hissed Chris. He grabbed the intruder by the sleeve and pulled him down beside him. "What's the big idea? Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"

Unfazed by his ill temper, Leo said, "Someone has to watch your back."

Chris was half-inclined to bang his forehead on a tree. "This is getting ridiculous."

Out of the blue, a chill swept over him. His irritation with Leo temporarily forgotten, Chris held a finger up to his lips and peered through the branches. What he saw put his instincts on high alert and he gripped the potion hard. The air sizzled as streams of energy from lampposts flowed into the field. The streams coalesced into a solid demon, or what was left of it. Its skin was horribly charred from however it had been vanquished the first time. Three-quarters of its face was burned off, but the mouth and remaining part of its nose was pointed in their direction.

"Crap. It can sense us," whispered Chris. Shivering, he dropped all pretenses of stealth and emerged from the bushes. He didn't stop to think as he lobbed the potion at the spirit. It struck its target and burst, and the spirit collapsed into a shrieking fit, but didn't blast apart. The big finish required another step that Chris had neglected to mention to Leo.

He slid a scrap of paper from his pocket and began reciting the spell scrawled on it. The spirit bucked off the searing pain from the potion, and aimed its hand at him to fire an energy beam from its palm. Chris spotted the beam racing toward him and lifted his hand to divert it with telekinesis.

But Leo wasn't taking any chances and lunged at Chris.

The two tumbled into the ground, the air knocked out of their lungs. The beam zoomed above their heads and seared the grass, leaving a scorch mark in its wake. A shell-shocked Chris rubbed the dirt from his eyes as he digested the reality that Leo had risked his life for him.

"Say the spell!" urged Leo. "I'll distract it."

"No, don't!" Chris sprang forward to pull him back, but his fingers snagged thin air. The movement jolted his upper left arm where the energy beam had nicked him. He inhaled sharply, clapped his hand on the swollen spot and staggered after Leo.

Several twigs broke as Leo climbed over the bushes and walked with his arms up to the spirit. The undead demon turned to the source of the noise. Confused by Leo's passive stance, it halted. Soon, it resumed its sluggish shuffle towards to its newest victim, an Elder that overflowed with the most delicious life force.

Leo flinched when the spirit's mangled hands were mere inches away from his head. His breathing quickened, but his faith in his son helped him to stand his ground. Chris wasted no time in smoothing out the paper that had gotten scrunched when he hit the ground:

"_Spirit of the in-between,_

_Go from this mortal realm,_

_Go to the place unseen."_

As he recited the lines twice, the spirit's body warped and convulsed. Smoky tendrils slithered out from the grass and coiled around its ankles and up to its knees. The tendrils yanked it through the ground, stretching the spirit vertically like it was being pulled into a black hole. Its cries lingered a few seconds after the spell dispatched it to the demonic wasteland. The iciness in the air lifted. Then, the scene was quiet.

Leo was oblivious to the tension in his gut until his insides slackened too quickly for his comfort. He turned to Chris, who stared into space with the paper in his hands. Unlike in the attic, he seemed sapped of his anger. Gone was the scowl. Now he just looked unsure of himself.

The bloody slit on his sleeve captured Leo's scrutiny. "Chris, your arm…"

Chris glanced down at it. "It's not so bad." The sting had numbed into an ache—a minor nuisance, really. "I've had worse."

Leo strolled over to examine the wound himself. It wasn't life threatening. The bleeding had slowed and would scab over in a few minutes. In any case, he placed his hands above his arm and let the healing glow emanate from them. Chris savored the warmth of the glow even as he thought that he shouldn't be accepting Leo's help. When all traces of the injury vanished, he ducked his head.

"Thanks," said Chris hoarsely.

"Don't mention it."

Since the day Chris had let his identity slip, none of Leo's actions matched those of his future self. Short of being ambushed by demons, this Leo wasn't going to leave him alone unless he made amends for things he hadn't even done yet. To Chris' dismay, the hatred he'd clung to for so long was faltering. He tried to remind himself of his memories of his deadbeat father and waited for the old fury to set in. It sparked, but it was already flickering. His subconscious, maybe as early as their initial confrontation, was viewing past and future Leo as two different people.

Or would they prove to be the same person if he discovered his dealings with the Valkyries? It was the perfect test for gauging Leo's limits. He hadn't forgotten Leo's former habit of stalking him to catch him in some guilty deed. In those days, the truth would have turned Leo against him.

"There's something you need to hear," said Chris. "About me."

The bend in the conversation piqued Leo's surprise. He decided to go with it. "What is it?"

"I'm the one who sent you to Valhalla. I killed a Valkyrie so the sisters could use her pendant," Chris confessed in a rush.

"I gathered that a while ago." Leo's inflection was bland and provided no insight to his thoughts.

Chris took a deep breath. This was the scary part. If the first half of his confession didn't enrage him, this would. "I'm not proud of what I've done. At the same time, I won't lie to you, or myself. I'd do it again if I had to."

The pause that ensued was agonizing. Any moment, Leo would renew his dislike of him. He'd ban him from going near the sisters and Wyatt.

Finally, Leo spoke. "I suspected it was you who sent me to Valhalla from the start. I'm not going to lie either, Chris. Some of the things you do don't sit right with me, but I get why you do them. When I found out what really happens to Wyatt, it gave me a different perspective on things. So I…" His breath hitched and he looked at Chris the eye. "I forgive you."

Some would have found Chris' cynicism laughable, but past experience had taught him to double-check before accepting anything. "Just like that?"

"Just like that. I forgave you for those things before any of this happened," said Leo. "I would be a hypocrite not to, given I've made my share of bad decisions too. So, consider us even. Let's start with a blank slate."

A blank slate, no strings attached? The proposal sounded too good to be true, but Chris didn't get a chance to think about it further because Leo's head arched up to the sky.

Chris sighed in disappointment. The Elders were summoning him again. Trust those guys to butt in whenever Leo had the opportunity to be near him for more than five minutes. And as usual, he would cave in and go to them.

To his surprise, Leo didn't move. He was prepared to disregard their summon, but his colleagues wouldn't take no for an answer. Their jingling turned into a screeching echo like pots and pans being clanged beside his ears. He grabbed his temples and doubled over, then sent a telepathic signal that he was coming. They were furious with him; they'd never upped the volume so high before. His skull buzzing from the after effects of their jingling, he hoped that Chris saw how much it gutted him to leave.

Shaking his head, Chris walked away. Without him around, the man wouldn't feel obliged to keep them waiting anymore.

Leo let him go. Where Chris was concerned, he knew when to back off. Despite the upcoming reprimand from the other Elders, he smiled to himself. It didn't matter that his progress was slow. He was getting through to his son.

* * *

In a downtown hotel, Dan flipped his cell phone open. He dialed the number for the Halliwell residence, but his thumb stopped short of the call button.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he said to himself.

On the other hand, he was tired of being restless. His vacation was falling apart. He'd strayed from his goal to visit attractions he'd missed out on when he originally lived in San Francisco, and spent his hours holed up in his room, or sitting around in local coffee shops. He missed the ignorance that once shielded him from Piper's secret. Who else was in on it besides him? There had to be other people out there in the same boat as him. If there were, what did they do about it?

People went entire lifetimes without knowing this other world existed. He didn't understand one bit of it, but he promised he would try to—for her.

Dan pushed the call button and held the phone up to his ear. It rang three times before someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Piper? It's Dan."

Piper's voice instantly became enthusiastic. "Dan, hi! I'm so happy you called. I was afraid you'd left."

He smiled even though she couldn't see it. "I wouldn't leave without saying say good-bye." Whatever his final viewpoint was, he wouldn't sink as low as to running off without giving her the closure.

"_Is_ this good-bye?" Trepidation laced Piper's every word. Dan could imagine her chewing on her lip, her face ashen.

"I don't have plans to leave yet. In fact, I was thinking that if you explained the witchcraft thing more, it might make more sense to me."

Piper, who hadn't foreseen Dan's interest in her heritage, wavered. "We-ell, I'm not sure what to tell you. My sisters and I took years to grasp this stuff and we still haven't learned everything. Would you like to come by my house? It would be easier to do this in person."

"Your house?" Dan's fingers tensed around his cell phone. He used to have no problem entering the manor. Now, he associated it with clawed demons, green blood and other unnatural phenomena. Although the sisters hadn't said it outright, he got the impression that incidents like those happened on a regular basis within its walls.

Detecting his anxiety, Piper said, "Or would you prefer a different place?"

"Mmm, somewhere else." He didn't think it was too irrational a request.

"How about P3?" she supplied.

The nightclub was further out. More public. Safer. "Works for me."

"Great! I'll see you there."

After they settled on a time, they bade each other farewell. Dan hailed a taxi outside the hotel to drive him to P3. The nightclub's front doors were locked when the taxi pulled in—that was to be expected since it wouldn't open till later. He paid the driver and walked around the building to the rear entrance. Inside, the stools were stacked on top of tables and the counter except for a few. Dan helped himself to a stool by the counter and drummed his fingers on his lap.

At first, Dan thought he was alone. Then, a new set of footsteps echoed from the storage area. The steps increased in volume as they edged closer to the main floor. He shifted half his weight off the stool for a hasty getaway, but it wasn't necessary. It wasn't one of the bartenders early for his shift. It wasn't a demon either.

It was Chris Perry, the surly young man Piper had introduced as a friend. The instant they spotted one another, they froze with similar stupefied expressions. Dan recollected that Chris had fought alongside the sisters and did some weird teleporting thing. That meant he was no stranger to the supernatural. He must be a witch, or whatever the male equivalent was, like Piper.

Dan stood up to break the tension, but his greeting died in his throat when Chris griped, "Why are _you_ here?"

Taken aback by his bad manners, Dan fumbled with his explanation. "Piper told me to meet her at the club."

Chris' eyebrows vanished under his overgrown bangs. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Ask her if you don't believe me." Dan drew himself up, annoyed by the man's increasing rudeness. Why Piper associated with someone like him was beyond him. "What's your excuse for being here?"

"I live here," said Chris, deadpan.

"Really…" Dan suspected he was being sarcastic. "Piper didn't invite you?"

"Nope, and even if she did, I'd pass."

Dan attempted without much luck to shove aside his resentment. "Lucky for you Piper saved you the trouble."

"Whatever. Don't let me ruin your big party." Chris strutted back a few steps and turned towards the office, rolling his eyes as he did.

Dan caught the eye roll, and felt his self-control crack. His threw aside his vow to be polite and propelled himself towards Chris, his fists balled at his sides. "What's your problem?"

"Huh?"

"You've been a jerk to me since day one for no reason. I haven't done anything to you. I never even met you until this week!"

"My problem with you?" Chris snorted as if it was obvious. "Piper has had to deal with you rejecting her because of magic twice already. Who's to say you won't do it a third time?"

The truth of his accusation stung, but he refused to take Chris' attack lying down and countered, "What's it to you? For a 'family friend', you're taking this personally." If anything, he was more protective than Leo.

"I make it a point to watch out for her."

"What are you, her boyfriend?"

The shock and horror on Chris' face was comical. "Wha—? Hell no! Ew. What's wrong with you?"

Dan could have asked him the same question. His reaction was a bit over the top. Chris seemed to realize this as well and elaborated in a calmer manner. "She's too old for me. Like, twenty years too old."

His opinion of the man flew from negative to possibly crazy. Chris appeared to be a maximum five to eight years younger than Piper, not twenty. "Is she really that much older than you?"

"Taking time travel into account, she is." Dan's jaw dropped. Before he had a chance to absorb this latest bombshell, Chris smirked. "Did I mention I'm from the future? Oops, apparently not. Piper can explain it to you."

They heard the rear entrance open. Assuming it was Piper, Dan's eyes darted to her general direction. He was relieved to have her company; she had a higher tolerance for the Chris' attitude than he did. In the millisecond he looked away from Chris, blue lights shimmered and faded out of the room.

Piper emerged from the storage room. She lit up at the sight of him and her stride took on new energy. "Hey. I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

"Nah, I was just talking to… No one?" His thumb pointed at thin air. Chris was gone. He scratched his head. Rather than strain his brain, he pretended the young man was never there. Next, he scrambled to cover his mistake. "Myself. I was talking to myself. Pretty dumb, eh?"

"Not at all. I've seen weirder things."

What Chris said stuck out to him. "Like time travel for example?"

"Don't even go there. Time traveling is so complicated we could spend a whole day on it. I'd rather not. This is supposed to be Magic 101."

She pulled out a stool while Dan reseated himself in his. He wondered what Chris' purpose was for coming to the past. People in movies jumped through time by accident or to erase an event; which one described him? He must have been with the Halliwells for a while for them to consider him an acquaintance, an ungracious one at that.

Piper brooded over how to ease Dan into the supernatural without confusing him. Covering the period when they were a couple was possible, but it would involve a lot of backtracking. In the end, the simplest method would be to go to the day Phoebe had unearthed the Book of Shadows in the attic. She filled two glasses of water for them. It was going to be a long discussion.

She talked; he listened. Since she did most of the talking, she refilled her glass twice. Dan didn't interrupt other than the occasional inquiry. His bewilderment showed less the deeper they delved into the topic. Piper hoped it was his gradual tolerance, if not acceptance, of magic. The afternoon segued into evening and her narration was nowhere near complete.

* * *

Chris glowered at the grandfather clock. He'd orbed out of P3 hours ago and Piper wasn't home yet. Stupid Dan. The guy was the textbook definition of a parasite. Chris had been convinced that Piper's ex wouldn't dare enter their lives again. Turned out he'd written him off too soon. He toyed with the idea of barging in on their 'big party', but he wasn't sure if it was worth ruining the goodwill he'd finally gained from Piper.

In hindsight, that dilemma proved to be trivial.

A car pulling into the driveway alerted Chris to Piper's return. He jogged into the hallway to meet her, but she breezed past him for the stairs at a speed typically reserved for fleeing from demons. She bustled back down the stairs carrying Wyatt and a purse dangled from her shoulder. Piper pushed the toddler into his arms and Chris reeled from the unexpected move. He hoisted Wyatt into a better position to avoid dropping him.

"Could you watch Wyatt until Sheila arrives? She's coming to baby-sit him so you won't have to," babbled Piper without waiting for his assent.

"Stop. Where are you going?"

"I'm taking Dan to dinner."

Chris did a double take. Was he trapped in an alternate universe, or had Piper just said she eating with that man? "What for?" he shrilled.

"To eat," said Piper sarcastically.

"You don't have to go on a pity date with him."

"For goodness sake, Chris!" cried Piper. "It's not a date. We're two friends going out for a meal. Repeat: it's not a date! It's none of your business anyway."

"As your Whitelighter, it's totally my business."

"Sticking your nose in my social life isn't part of your Whitelighter code." Piper's lips pressed in a straight line, signaling the end of that argument. She stooped to give Wyatt a kiss on the cheek. "Mommy will be back soon. Be good for Sheila," she told him.

Chris watched from the living room window as Piper sauntered onto the front yard. After she climbed into her vehicle, it roared to life. The sun peeked over the horizon just enough for him to make out Dan sitting in the passenger seat. Disgusted, he flicked the curtains closed.

"Maybe I am overreacting," reflected Chris out loud. "What do you think, Wyatt?"

Wyatt stretched his tiny body to the window and pounded on the glass through the curtains.

"At least you're on my side," said Chris brightly.

The doorbell rang. Chris counted six chimes in a row as he crossed to the front door. Sheila wouldn't have been abused the bell like that, and Piper would've used her keys to get inside. He shifted Wyatt into his left arm and with his free hand, yanked the door open.

Speak of the devil. It was Greg the fireman. Greg didn't bother with the formalities.

"Is Piper home?" he said. "She canceled on dinner a couple of nights ago and she isn't getting my messages."

Déjà vu slammed into Chris like a runaway train. Why did he always have to be the one to answer the door to these guys? With the exception of Leo, he swore Piper's suitors were interchangeable.

"She's not available." Chris hit upon a stroke of inspiration. "She's on a date tonight with a guy named Dan Gordon."

"She's dating someone else?" spluttered Greg, crushed by the news.

"Yeah, tough luck. Bye!"

Greg barred Chris from shutting the door, his posture going from defeated to resolute. "You're lying. I'm not going until I see her."

"Fine, suit yourself," Chris shrugged, not fussed either way. He would get the message soon enough.

Greg elbowed Chris aside. He posted himself in the center of the hallway as though he expected Piper pop out any second. Chris followed him, tempted to hum the Jeopardy tune just to annoy him.

Contrary to his belief, Greg's stay was shorter than Dan's. Chris had been zoning out a little when Wyatt started babbling loudly. It was distracting enough to draw Greg's attention to the toddler. Chris was about to ask Wyatt what the matter was when Greg, without warning, yelped and sprinted out as fast as his legs would let him. As he disappeared into the night, a bewildered Chris looked down at his brother to find a most bizarre sight.

The toddler's eyes were aglow with blue orbs. The intensity of the orbs was dwindling, but it wasn't hard to imagine what the display would've looked like to Greg at its peak.

Chris stared. His body shook and his mouth puckered. Then he broke out laughing harder than he could remember in a long time. Wyatt's high-pitched giggle joined in.

He temporarily reined in his laughter to yell into the street, "Want me to tell Piper you stopped by?" It was a rhetorical question, really. Greg wouldn't care what he told Piper after this. Still snickering, Chris closed the door.

A familiar voice drifted from the stairwell. "What's this about Piper going on a date?"


	10. Similar Triangles

Disclaimer: Yes, yes, I know the 'future consequences' of copyright infringement.

**Chapter 10: Similar Triangles **

The merriment dashed out of Chris, replaced by the closest he would get to an asthma attack. He grasped his chest as his lungs skipped several breaths. He really, really didn't want to turn around. He would have settled for watching the door the whole night, but he didn't have a real choice in the matter. Leo expected an answer, and hiding wasn't Chris' style. He spun to face him.

With one elbow on the rail and his weight resting on one leg, Leo exuded a precarious calm unlike their encounter on the bridge. Chris didn't count it as a positive. A situation where he couldn't predict the Elder's temper was always ominous. Wyatt, however, was blind to the tension in the room and squeaked at the sight of his daddy.

Having learned his lesson from the previous fallout, Chris wasn't in a hurry to mention Dan's name in Leo's presence. Optimistic that he could worm his way out, he said, "Piper went on a date?"

"She went somewhere because I don't sense her in the house."

Chris picked the most vague and most likely task Piper would do in the evening besides eating. "She's probably running an errand."

From his vantage point on the landing, Leo's eyes bore into his. "That's not what you told Greg."

Chris had a vision of Leo hovering in the upstairs hall with his ear angled towards the main floor, and gulped. "How long were you eavesdropping?"

"Long enough to catch the part about Piper and Dan going to dinner." He jogged down the steps to meet him at eye level. Chris leaned back in case he tried to orb them away on a whim. "Were you making it up for Greg's sake, or was there some truth to it?"

"The important thing is that I'm not going to turn out half-fireman," said Chris briskly and tacked on as an afterthought, "So what happened with the Elders? They sounded pretty mad this morning."

"They were. They didn't threaten to clip my wings, but they gave me a lecture. Then they let me off with a warning." Leo waved it aside, unimpressed by their warnings. "And it'll take more than that to put me off. Since you keep dodging the subject, I'll assume the dinner date is real."

"Fine, it is. But it's all good! We're mature, responsible adults. We can handle this," rambled Chris, flustered at getting caught in the lie.

So far Leo didn't blow up, but he was far from finished. Some of the displeasure leaked into his voice. "Why did Piper go along with him?"

"More like he went along with her. The whole thing was her idea."

The subtle difference in the wording sank Leo's spirits lower. He only had himself to blame, though. He hadn't done right by Piper since they'd vanquished the Titans. Erasing her pain had backfired, and so had complying with her request to be left as a single mother. The burden had taken an emotional toll on her and he'd done nothing to help. Sneaking in at night to see Wyatt wasn't enough. He wished he'd returned sooner. He shouldn't have left at all. He was naïve to think that Piper would suspend her dating life just because he was Chris and Wyatt's father.

Leo absently ruffled Wyatt's hair and said, "We've got to do something."

Chris hoped he didn't mean what he thought he meant. "Such as?"

"Dan ought to know the dangers of getting close to a witch. You and I could enlighten him. We could do it right now."

"Slow down. Are you saying we should…? Oh no. No way!" Chris shook his head so fiercely that it ached. "I'm not getting involved. Piper said it was a friends-only thing and I believe her."

"Do you? Weren't you the one who told me he was back? You could have waited for me to find out myself, but you didn't. You don't like him any more than I do."

"True, but I wouldn't use him as my personal punching bag. We've got demons for that," said Chris. He shuddered at the notion of a second Dan versus Leo match spilling out into a public place. The first fistfight in the house had been a spectacle in itself.

Leo didn't want to say so, but Chris was right. He hadn't instigated the fight, but he was no saint himself for letting Piper's ex provoke him. Flying off the handle was the fastest way to lose his family's respect and from a parenting perspective, it set a bad example for Wyatt. The shame he'd held at arm's length prior to his return to the manor whip lashed in full force.

"I guess it wasn't my finest moment. I swear there won't be a repeat." When Chris looked unmoved, he added, "Piper and I didn't break the rules just to give up. I have to believe our love is strong enough that we can work out our differences."

"Crashing Piper's dinner is a great way to start," said Chris caustically.

The Elder stroked his chin in thought. Chris was choosing an inconvenient time to have doubts, but they weren't entirely unjustified. Leo switched tactics. "I'm surprised at you, Chris. You weren't like this with Greg. What makes Dan special? Even if he and Piper are going casual tonight, it can change tomorrow. But hey, it's your existence."

"Okay, I get it!" Chris yelped. Not the kind of thing he wanted to imagine Wyatt's mother in. Thank god his brother was too young to understand their discussion. "You don't have to go into the details. I'll go."

Leo contained his glee as he patted him on the shoulder. He didn't really need Chris with him, but it felt right to include him. He was grateful he hadn't pushed him away yet.

On his side, Chris questioned his own sanity. Warding off Piper's ex-boyfriend never crossed his mind as a father-son activity. It had to be the weirdest thing he'd ever done. Why couldn't it be something normal like playing catch in the backyard?

A ring at the door indicated Sheila's arrival. As Leo went to greet her, Chris said under his breath, "Don't make me regret this."

* * *

"This spell book of yours, the Book of Shadows," said Dan. "It's been in your family for four hundred years?"

"Give or take a few decades." Piper paused when the waitress came by to drop off chicken lasagna for her and prime ribs for Dan.

Looking around, Piper had to admit they were fortunate. They had acquired a corner booth in the back, which offered the most privacy they would get in such a place. Had they entered later, they wouldn't have secured a table at all. As the casual dining restaurant filled up rapidly, the noise level soared to a deafening high. She didn't need to bother lowering her voice as she resumed. "My mom used it, and so did Grams and her mother before her."

At the mention of her last relative, Piper fidgeted in her seat. Grams' mother, P. Baxter, had been married to Gordon Johnson—her and Dan's past lives. Leo had been correct about how souls tended to travel in the same circle of friends and family. The good news—destiny wasn't so strict that their interactions stayed static in each lifetime. She never explained the concept of past lives to Dan and she preferred to leave it that way. She didn't want to give him a complex over predestination; she didn't want to give _herself _the wrong idea although she wondered…

Her eyes strayed to the side and her ponderings flew out the window. Leo and Chris were squeezing through the crowds and tables in her direction.

"Piper, Dan! What a coincidence." Leo parked himself at the edge of their table irrespective of the vein pulsating on her forehead. Chris lingered next to him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Piper groused. Judging from the way he eyed the pair, Dan wasn't thrilled to see them either.

"Chris and I decided to spend some quality time together," said Leo. Chris nudged him hard in the ribs.

The waitress who served their food scuttled over upon seeing the newcomers. "Oh, do we have more guests for this table?"

"Yes," said Leo before Piper could disagree. He pointed to Chris and himself. "We'll both have the dinner special."

"Two rib eye steaks coming up," said the waitress. She scrawled their order down and departed for the kitchen.

Miffed, Dan climbed out of the booth and moved next to Piper so that Leo and Chris sat across from them. Leo frowned at the arrangement while Piper hunched her shoulders and tugged at her hair. It seemed Leo hadn't broken out of his habit of inviting himself to other people's meals. He'd once turned Cole and Phoebe's outing into a double date. In fairness, it had been a gut reaction on his part to act less like a Whitelighter and more like a regular person, but she doubted his motives were as honest this time around.

"Soooo," drawled Chris. "Did we miss anything important?"

"For your information, I was filling Dan in about our heritage. Kid stuff for you guys."

"Great! We've been meaning to give you a few pointers ourselves," Leo said to Dan. He folded his hands on the table and Chris followed suit. They leaned forward with an air of innocence—too innocent for Piper's approval.

"Brace yourself," advised Chris. "It's not pleasant."

"You'll find that most people don't last long around us."

"As in they give up and leave or…?" said Dan slowly.

Leo filled in the part he didn't vocalize. "They literally don't last long."

Piper coughed from swallowing her lasagna too soon. They were making no effort whatsoever to be tactful. None.

"We've all had our share of near-death experiences," said Chris. "I've been shot with Darklighter arrows. Very poisonous, very painful. And I've lost track of how many times I've been burned, cut, stabbed, hit with energy balls and thrown into walls."

"Not to mention someone tries to kill us at least once a day, sometimes more."

"You're exaggerating," said Dan.

Chris brushed him off. "I've been known to do lots of things, but exaggerating isn't one of them."

Dan touched his stomach and pushed his plate away. Piper noticed he looked paler than he did a minute ago and intervened on his behalf, "Guys, I think Dan has heard enough horror stories for tonight."

"But we didn't get to the good part yet," said Leo eagerly. "We haven't talked about the demons who disguise themselves as friends and co-workers—"

She shot him a death glare. "Leo!"

"In short," he finished hastily, "Magic isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"I can't complain about my leg injury after this," was Dan's feeble reply.

They lapsed into an awkward silence. Leo and Chris' food arrived, but the absence of conversation continued. Leo picked at his meat with his fork, Dan took an interest in the art print on the wall and Chris' utensils clinked as he munched on his steak. Itching to break away from the tension, Piper thought of freezing the room, but didn't because her power wouldn't affect Chris.

Slouching in his seat, Chris sloshed the water around in his glass and broke the strained atmosphere. "I heard you used to play for the Seattle Mariners."

Dan gave him a curt nod. "I did up until I busted my leg. You a baseball fan?"

Green eyes brightened in loyalty to the sport. Chris' energetic, almost child-like, reaction amazed the other occupants at the table.

"Absolutely! I love baseball. I used to play in the Little League when I was a kid. I also kept up with the trading cards and had a card album this big." He held his palms apart to illustrate the album's thickness.

Any qualms Dan had about Chris seemed to lift in light of their common interest. "With a passion like yours, I hope your dad took you some live games. Watching from a TV isn't the same. You have to be in the arena to experience that adrenaline rush."

"Er…" Chris snuck Leo a sheepish glance. "My dad didn't take us often. He was a busy person. "

"That's too bad," said Dan. "You said you were from the future, right? Will my team win in the next few years?"

Chris could have given him the Major League Baseball scores for the next decade if he didn't feel bound by his policy on time travel. "Nice try. You'll have to wait like everyone else."

"It was worth a try," shrugged Dan.

Piper felt Chris was taking his 'future consequences' too far, and she wasn't afraid to say so. "Don't be silly. Talking about sport results isn't going to destroy the timeline." He stared her down. "If not sports, then what about yourself?" In the time they had known him, Chris hardly talked about himself. After learning of his love for baseball, she was curious about other aspects of his life as well.

"I can't. I shouldn't have said anything to begin with," he said, flushing.

"One of these days you'll look back and realize your neurosis was overkill."

"Protecting the cosmic balance does not make me neurotic!"

"There's a fine line between caution and paranoia. Wouldn't you agree, Dan?"

Dan held up his hands as though afraid to incite her or Chris' wrath. "Don't look at me. I'm neutral."

He and Piper fell quiet as they struggled not to laugh. Surprisingly, Chris' mouth pulled up in a faint grin. Everyone moved on to matters not related to witchcraft—everyone except Leo. He became mechanical in his actions, cutting and chewing his steak as they exchanged pleasantries. The frostiness didn't quite leave Chris' attitude when he spoke to Dan, but he appeared more at ease than Leo had ever seen him. A hollow sensation rose in his stomach. No one stopped to ask for his input in the discussion, not even Chris.

He'd had enough. "Can I borrow Chris for a minute?" At his inquisitive look, Leo mouthed, "In private."

They left Piper and Dan behind for the men's washroom. After checking for bystanders and finding none, Leo glared at him. "You're not supposed to consort with the enemy."

Chris blinked at him. He sounded like an Elder and a father rolled in one. "What's with the Elder-speak? You've been Up There too much."

"Not funny, Chris."

"It's kind of hard to deal with him and not 'consort'," said Chris who had yet to figure out why Leo had taken him aside.

"Deal with him, yes. Act like you're old friends? I don't think so."

"Would you calm down? All we talked about was baseball."

"You never told me you liked baseball."

"So?"

Leo clammed up at once. He couldn't go further without disclosing the real reason for his irritation. But Chris didn't have to be an empath to see through him. "Oh, turns out I'm not the crazy one after all," he chortled. "I never pegged you for the insecure type."

Startled by Chris' accurate summary, Leo tried to laugh it off. "I don't know what you mean."

"You've got it backwards. If anyone should be envious, it's Dan. You're the one with the cool powers, and other than not living together, technically you and Piper are still married."

It struck Leo as absurd that he should need reassurance from Chris. Within seconds, he felt foolish for dragging them here and groped for an excuse to cover up his blunder. Fate was on his side; a customer entered the washroom, effectively ending the issue for them. Piper would wonder where they went if they stayed too long, so they returned to the eating area.

The others had finished and were arguing over the bill. Dan offered to split the cost, but Piper wouldn't hear of it and insisted on paying the full amount herself. He caved in, unable to outdo her in the obstinacy department. Leo scraped off his plate and paid for his and Chris' dinners separately. Drowsy, but satiated, the group exited the restaurant where went their separate ways. Chris and Leo wandered into a nearby alley to orb unseen to the manor, and Piper drove Dan back to the hotel. Dan was quiet during the drive, which chafed more than excess chatter would have.

Eventually, he did speak. He turned to her, his face obscured in shadow. "How much of what Leo and Chris said before was true?"

Piper's knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. She considered fudging the facts a bit, but it would have negated her vow to be honest with him. "Everything," she said.

"Including the part about people…?" He drew his index finger across his throat.

"If it's any consolation, even witches aren't safe. I didn't give you the full story on how my sister died." Piper focused on the road ahead rather than look at him. "A demon attacked and we were too late to save her."

Dan blanched and spent the last half of their journey staring out the window. She left him alone. When she pulled up to the curb nearest to the hotel, he thanked her for dinner, bade her good-bye and disappeared into the building. _Give him more time_. _He'll accept it_, she convinced herself, but foreboding seized upon her.

On the way home, her thoughts deviated to Leo and Chris. Their presence hadn't ruined the evening, quite the opposite. As strange as the setup was, she had enjoyed their get-together. Yet, something about Chris and Leo's antics bugged her. They seemed to be in on an inside joke that she couldn't identify. She didn't like it. Secrets in the Halliwell family were a ticking time bomb for disaster.

Sheila was gone by the time she pulled into the driveway and strolled into the house. After hanging up her purse in her room, she found Leo lowering Wyatt into his cradle. Piper hated to interrupt his nightly ritual of sitting in the nursery until their son fell asleep, but her impatience begged to differ.

She rapped on the doorframe to get his attention. "You. Me. Downstairs," she ordered and led him down to the sunroom. As she flipped on the lights, she called for the other person in the equation.

As soon as Chris materialized, he noted Piper's confrontational stance and the way Leo folded his arms as though defending his space. "Can I ask what this is about?"

Piper skipped the Q and A. "I'm not an idiot. You followed me because you were mad I went out with Dan."

Leo leapt to his son's defense. "Don't take it out on Chris. It's my fault. I persuaded him to come with me."

Chris bobbed his head towards Leo in gratitude, but he wasn't out of the woods yet. Piper had seen the exchange, which fueled her suspicions.

"I don't care about that. It's you and Chris that bother me. When did you two get so buddy-buddy? First you guys are avoiding each other, then you're acting like the dynamic duo."

Leo stood by Chris. "We resolved our differences."

"A little too fast," she said. These two didn't solve their problems. They suppressed them until they boiled over into another spat over Chris' trustworthiness.

"Here's where it gets confusing for me. Why would Chris go with you at all? I get your reasons for not liking Dan, even though you're way out of line," Piper said to Leo. Then she pointed at Chris. "But you—my social life doesn't affect you. So explain to me why it matters to you."

"I think you and Leo should work things out," babbled Chris. "For Wyatt's sake."

Her instincts cried foul. As a liar, Chris was losing his edge, or maybe she was getting adept at picking out his lies. If she pushed hard enough, she would get the truth out of him.

"Whitelighters often get attached to their charges—"

"Shut up, Leo."

At six foot one, Chris eclipsed Piper's five foot three frame. Yet height disparities didn't prevent Chris from trembling before the woman who resembled his mother, but wasn't quite his mother. He wasn't aware of himself backing away from Piper until his legs collided into a chair in the corner.

"I'm not going to repeat myself. Why does it matter to you if I'm with Leo, Dan, or another guy?"

"Piper…"

"Well?"

"Be-because I…" His palms became sweaty, and his mind jammed. Chris wordlessly sought out Leo's aid. Unfortunately, the Elder was as lost as he was. The most he could do was move his lips and Piper, at that particular moment, would have ignored him anyway.

"Spit it out!" she prodded.

"Because I want my parents back together!"


	11. The Wrong Angle

Disclaimer: Borrowing, not stealing.

**Chapter 11: The Wrong Angle **

The phrase 'my parents' hung in the air like a sheet tossed to the wind. Speechlessness descended on everybody, including the one who had blurted out the fateful words.

He sank into the corner chair with his head cradled between his hands and his bangs hung limply over his face. In the instant Piper had channeled the harsher version of his mother, Chris forgot about secrecy. When Mom busted him for some misdoing, she grilled him until he confessed to it. More often than not, he did. Only this time was much, much worse.

Leo beheld his wife and son and reproached himself for not defending Chris better. His logical half argued that it wouldn't have mattered, that they could have put Piper off for a day at most before they wound up in the same predicament again. He wanted to pull Chris into a hug and promise him that he didn't have to be afraid. But he couldn't risk making a groundless promise when Piper had yet to respond in the positive or negative.

Once she did, her sentences came out broken as she tried to piece together her scattered thoughts. "Your parents? Leo and I aren't… But that must mean… You're my son?"

Chris' jaw went stiff, rendering him mute. He couldn't lie through his teeth, not in his current state, but nor did he have the will to confirm it. Leo, bless him or curse him, took the matter out of his hands. If the knowledge was going to be out in the open, he intended to tackle it head on. "Yes, Chris is our son."

To Piper, time froze after Leo's confirmation. Multiple realizations pounded into her and she feared her mind would fracture from the impact. She was going to have another child with Leo. That child was Chris. Chris? The man she forgave for lying to them and endangering Wyatt? The man she'd bickered with on a regular basis? There must be a mistake. She and Leo were separated; she wouldn't have more kids after Wyatt. But Chris was half-Whitelighter. Besides her and Leo, no other witch and Whitelighter unions existed, unless the future was different from their world. And the most reckless of people wouldn't sabotage their birth and allow their parents break up, like Chris had.

The contradictions threw her mental processes into overload, but a lone thought emerged intact. _It can't be. That can't be right._

The others gasped, and Piper's hand reached to her throat. She'd spoken it aloud as well.

Chris' recoiled as if she'd kicked him in the face. His disbelieving eyes soared to meet hers. Leo took a glimpse of Chris and rounded on Piper to set her straight. He didn't get a chance to start his tirade when a warning hand gripped his shoulder. Chris had pulled himself up from his chair and the message boomed loud and clear from his gaze. _Don't_.

By the time he turned to Piper, his countenance had hardened into a stoic mask. Then, without another sound, he spun on his heel and walked around the corner into the dining room. If they had watched closely, they would have seen the grief shuddering through his wobbly façade.

"Chris!" Leo chased after him into the now empty dining room. He was gone, probably orbed out. His heart thumping out of control, Leo shut his eyes to sense for Chris' whereabouts. He discerned no signal and no orb trail. "CHRIS!" he roared. With sensing out, he needed Piper's aid, despite her being the cause of their son's disappearance.

He returned to the sunroom and found her as he had left her—petrified and unspeaking. He'd been down that road once. Between Chris' true identity and his hatred for him, Leo hadn't fared well himself. Knowing Piper, guilt would rule her above everything else, but one thing was in her favor. Her actions were nowhere near as heinous as his; she hadn't thrown Chris across the room in a fit of rage a few months ago.

When Leo recalled Chris' stricken look, however, his sympathy hardened into anger.

"What is wrong with you, Piper?"

His fury jolted her back to life, but not enough to push her out of her hazy state. "Is he really our son?" she asked huskily.

"Yes." He was more worried about Chris and wanted to skip the denial stage. The entire situation frayed his temper, driving him to lash out. "How could you say that to him? Do you hate him that much?"

"I don't hate him! I never hated him." For all the frustration he induced, she didn't harbor any hatred towards him. The truth practically beat her over the head and she had still ignored it, in front of Chris no less. She was so blind. Who else but family would dive into the abyss of time to fight on their behalf?

"Tell it to him, not me," said Leo tersely. "Assuming we can find him."

"Of course we will. He wouldn't leave us." She started for the next room with no clue as to where she was going.

Leo snatched her arm. "Piper, he's not here and I can't sense him. Don't you get it? He's gone."

His panic stopped Piper in her tracks. If Leo was pessimistic, they really were in trouble. Like a delayed reaction, Piper's intuition picked up the ease in which Leo had connected the dots before her. He wasn't riled up like she was. His lack of reaction to Chris' slip-up and his ability to verify it wasn't feasible, unless he knew beforehand.

That was the big secret, the reason for Leo's change of heart with Chris.

"How long?" she demanded.

"Pardon?"

"How long have you know about Chris?"

Leo scuffed his toe on the carpet, wondering if he should've shared his knowledge when he had the chance. "Since the demon attack."

It was Piper's turn to get angry. "But that was ages ago! You've known for days and didn't tell me?"

"I couldn't betray Chris' trust," said Leo. He omitted his other, more selfish motive for keeping the secret.

Unaware of the circumstances, Piper leapt to a different conclusion. "So he trusted you over me."

"It's not how it looks. Chris didn't tell me who he was on his own free will. I found out by accident. If it were up to him, none of us would ever know."

"We're his parents. We should have recognized him," she wailed.

She remembered the time when an accident had dropped her and her sisters in the seventies. When they'd run into their mother, it had been so hard to keep their distance from her. In the end, they'd caved in and revealed themselves. Chris had gone for months without revealing his identity. At the bare minimum, she should have felt a connection with him. _I thought he looked a lot like you_. Dan, a complete outsider, had seen Chris' resemblance to her.

"Chris made sure we didn't. I think he was afraid we wouldn't accept him if we knew."

His reasoning struck a deep chord in her. Inadvertent or not, she had fulfilled his deepest fears. She, Phoebe and Paige had never taken him seriously. She'd thrown him out of the house, and her last words to him just now were the last straw.

"What have I done?" whispered Piper. She swayed and would have keeled over if Leo didn't run to catch her in his arms. Sobs wracked her body as she rested her head against his chest and sought the comfort in his embrace.

Pain seared through Leo's heart as his anger subsided in the wake of her tears. He tightened his arms around her and blinked back tears of his own. His issues were unimportant. He needed to pull himself together for the both of them, and for Chris. Minutes later, Piper wiggled free to wipe her eyes, which had become red and puffy.

"He'll never forgive me, not after what I said to him," she sniffed.

Stirred by the depths of her remorse, Leo took her by the shoulders. "Look at me, Piper. He will because he loves you. Just be there for him. Show him you care and everything will work out. Besides, _I'm_ the parent who screws up in the future."

Piper was confused. Leo was a loving father to Wyatt. Wouldn't the same apply to Chris?

"Later," he stated. "Right now, our priority is Chris."

On that, they were unanimous. "We need something of his to scry with."

They had nothing to work with in the manor. Potion bottles and ingredients he'd touched didn't count. It pained them to realize that Chris had so few personal belongings because it highlighted their failure to integrate him into the family, even as a friend.

"I'll see if there's anything we can use at the club," said Leo.

The peace in the sunroom transitioned to darkened walls and rowdy music as Leo's form solidified in the nightclub's office. Though he suspected it was unlikely that Chris would take refuge at P3, dejection weighed down on him when he didn't find him there. His eyes roved over the clutter and, strangely, one of Wyatt's toy blocks on Chris' desk. None of the objects provided any scrying value, so he inspected the couch. There wasn't much near the couch either except for a cardboard box full of clothes. Leo pulled out a button-down shirt—it was the best he would get.

He reunited with Piper in the attic where she was flattening out a city map on the table. He handed the shirt to her and tapped his foot impatiently as the crystal swung above the map.

Perceiving his agitation, Piper waved at him to go. "I'll call you if I find him."

"Likewise," breathed Leo. Out of gratitude, he kissed her on the cheek. Piper brushed that side of her face with her fingertips and goggled at his disappearing back.

Leo orbed to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, and then to a place that would appall his fellow Elders: the Underworld. He ran through the tunnels for any trace of Chris until a gang of lower level demons accosted him. Thinking they could they could take on a lone Elder, they launched a barrage of energy balls at him. He dodged the attack easily enough, but he refused to waste his energy fighting them. So Leo retreated to the surface and carried on his search there.

* * *

Chris was a lot closer than Piper and Leo suspected. Initially, he reappeared in the manor's side yard slumped against the red wall, impaled on the blade that was Piper's rejection.

He'd anticipated her loathing him, or throwing him out of the house forever. Those outcomes were horrible enough, but outright denial? He must have blundered that badly for her to be disgusted that she was related to him. She despised the disappointment that he, her second son, had become. How twisted that Leo, the absentee father, should welcome him more than Piper. Painful memories resurfaced as if to taunt him, from Wyatt's declaration that he 'didn't need him', to his botched attempt at getting the sisters to bind little Wyatt's powers.

He pushed himself off the wall and trudged to the sidewalk at the base of the manor. The Victorian structure faded out of sight the further he ambled along Prescott Street under the glare of streetlamps and passing cars. He used to roam the neighborhood at night after the Event to steer clear of his relatives, so he could grieve by himself. A year and a half later, he'd run down the street a final time to flee the self-proclaimed ruler of the world, his own brother.

Chris slowed his pace at the boundary that divided the older buildings from the more modern ones. After he crossed the road, he withdrew his engagement ring and turned it over in his palm. What would Bianca do? She couldn't be even with him in spirit because she had died in the future. Her love had been his last bastion of hope in a world where he didn't belong—where the Charmed Ones were alive as precursors to the women he'd grown up with. If Bianca were in his position, Chris had an inkling of what she would do.

Fix it.

He'd given Piper the knowledge of who he was; he could steal it back. Leo was problematic because he might re-spill the beans. So he'd have to deal with Leo too. Distaste for his plan overwhelmed his conscience, but if he quashed his emotions and treated it like any other unsavory deal in the Underworld, he could do it.

* * *

When his hour-long search proved useless, Leo checked in with Piper. His forehead tingled with exhaustion.

"Any luck?" he asked her.

Piper gathered up the crystal and rested her aching arm on the table's edge. She felt as weary as he did. "None whatsoever."

On hearing her negative reply, despair closed in on him. Leo threw his arms up. "This is taking too long."

"He'll turn up somewhere," said Piper, injecting more confidence into her tone than she felt. "He's upset with us, but he wouldn't abandon Wyatt."

Leo would have offered up his Elder powers if it meant having Chris back. Most of his abilities were useless for tracking missing people, but Piper had other tools at her disposal, like the Book of Shadows. It lay open on the spell to summon a lost witch. It was a last resort—they preferred not to retrieve Chris by force, but they were running out of options. First, they would give scrying crystal and sensing one more go.

A blip on Leo's radar pointed to a spot two floors below them.

The crystal landed where the Halliwell manor was on the map.

"Found him!" said Leo and Piper together.

They looked at each other, too overjoyed to distrust the coincidence in their discovery. Piper fiddled with her thumbs as she mentally practiced what to say to Chris, and Leo vowed not to let Chris slip away again. They plunged down two staircases for the main floor and took it for granted that Chris would be waiting for them.

They skidded open-mouthed to a stop in the deserted hall. Leo frantically scanned the section that branched into the kitchen and missed the long shadow weaving behind him. Piper was distracted by a rustling noise and rotated her body the opposite way in time to spot a glass object shooting through the air towards them.

Piper yelled and snapped her wrists to blow the object to pieces before it could shatter at their feet. A male voice swore. Alarmed by the commotion, Leo jerked his neck to see what was going on. His relief to seeing Chris stand across from them by the living room was short-lived. A fierce yet steady look distorted his features so much that feelings of dread swooped through Piper and Leo. It was the face demons saw before their demise at Christopher Perry Halliwell's hand.

"Chris, it's us!" barked Leo.

He didn't seem to care who they were. He showed no signs of disengaging as he brandished a duplicate glass object in his other hand.

Piper could sort of make out the item in his fingers, but hoped she was wrong and that it was a trick of the light. "What is that?" she said softly.

Chris examined the vial and debated whether he should inform them. Silence, and then… "Memory potion."


	12. Opposite and Adjacent Views

Disclaimer: I disclaim everything including this disclaimer.

**A/N**: Chapter twelve and onwards is brand new content. Leaving the cliffhanger in the last chapter unresolved for three years was evil, I'll admit.

**Chapter 12: Opposite and Adjacent Views **

"Memory potion?" parroted Leo. Next to him, Piper rocked back on her heels.

He sucked his teeth in, grieved that events had rolled so far downhill for him to feel driven to such extreme measures. He stood taller in his refusal to return to a world where Chris was a stranger who meant nothing to him. "Chris, you can't. I won't lose you, not like this."

"You're not losing much," said Chris coolly.

Having been subjected to worse spells and potions, Piper was less rattled by a slim margin. She was more disturbed by how little he valued himself. His emotions were impeding his judgment, and the slightest provocation could push him off the deep end if she didn't word herself correctly. "You're dead wrong. We'll lose a son if you use that potion."

"Say erasing our memories solves the problem today. What about tomorrow?" Leo said. "Can you live with yourself knowing that you had another choice? I think that deep down, you don't really want to use the potion."

Though Chris didn't shift from his offensive stance, he lowered his arm by a fraction. Encouraged, Piper pursued another angle.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe you weren't meant to go it alone? We found out who you were for a reason." The belief in a higher purpose behind every action, no matter how random and insignificant, was integral to the Halliwell family—a family that Chris was part of. If destiny was on her side, her future self had taught him the lesson too. "Please give us—me—one more chance."

Chris tuned out their pleas, wishing they would stop. They were making it harder for themselves by obstructing him. He regretted telling them what the potion was for. Once they dug their claws into a cause, they never let go. With the element of stealth lost, the cracks in his plan accelerated as he wrestled to hold the pieces of his confidence together. "Don't tell me what to do, either of you. It's better if you forget."

"Better for who? You?" Leo didn't get how his plan would benefit any of them, Chris included.

"For the future."

He was stubborn to the end, but Leo was too well acquainted with Chris' nature to fall for the 'future consequences' smokescreen.

"You can make us forget, but will it stick? The Cleaners tried it before," argued Piper. She stepped to the right. Chris matched her step through narrowed eyes as mother and son began to circle each other. She recalled the nagging feeling that she was missing someone dear to her and if she racked her brains hard enough, she would pinpoint it. "They took Wyatt out of our lives, but we remembered. We got our him back and I guarantee we'll do the same for his little brother."

Other than his rapid blinking, Chris showed little reaction to her spiel. Piper didn't know what else to try. She had exhausted every conceivable argument, and so had Leo, judging by his deflated appearance. With no other cards up her sleeve, she readied herself for her riskiest gamble.

"Don't believe me? I'll prove it to you." She fanned out her arms and pointed her palms sideways, the equivalent to disabling her powers. "Go ahead and throw the potion."

"Piper, have you lost your mind?" gasped Leo.

"It's his decision," she said, shrugging. To Chris, she goaded, "Hurry up and throw it."

Her change of tactic knocked Chris off balance. She was basically giving him permission to end the standoff on his terms. He searched her for any hint of deceit and found none. This was it, the job he'd come to finish. He elevated the vial above his head, poised to strike. It was simple—Piper had accepted her fate and Leo, should he interfere, wasn't difficult to dodge. But his arm wouldn't obey.

He was too weak. Or was it strength? He didn't understand himself anymore. He looked inward, trying to analyze his conflicted feelings.

Leo was right all along. He had no real desire to use the memory potion. It was more of an obligation, the type he was bound to if he pretended to be impartial. Who was he fooling? He liked having Leo in on his secret. Leo, the person he loathed in another lifetime, was the one he sought solace in rather than Piper. He didn't have the guts to throw him out of his life. He kept his optimism low with Piper, reluctant to wallow in false hope. Chris was positive she somewhat cared about his existence, or she wouldn't be wasting her time with him.

He'd just have to live with the consequences of his slip-up.

A shudder quaked through his body as he dropped his fist against his thigh.

Piper approached him slowly. "Can't do it, can you?"

"No." He trained his bloodshot eyes on the floor.

He knew what she wanted, and levitated the vial to her. She grabbed the object and tossed it to the ceiling, blasting it apart with her powers as it curved downward.

"Let's take it to the living room," suggested Leo, relieved that the worst of the crisis was over. They had a tough discussion ahead of them that was better conducted sitting down.

"It's getting late," said Chris as if it mattered.

Piper shook her head, too impatient to wait for the next day. "It's not too late for us."

Again, they wouldn't let him go. Too weary to protest, he took the lead and settled on the long couch in the living room. Piper occupied the space on his left and Leo made himself comfortable on his right. Their close proximity freaked him out. The whole incident had run his emotions ragged and he knew he didn't have the energy to swallow any more setbacks.

Leo massaged Chris on the back. "I'm glad you decided not to use that potion. You had us worried there for a bit."

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, son."

"Chris," started Piper after a beat. "There's been a huge misunderstanding."

He looked at her. "About what?"

"What I said before, it wasn't what it sounded like."

Chris raised his chin, afraid to ask. He'd never considered an alternative explanation. He'd simply assumed the worst.

"I don't hate you, Chris." Voice brimming with emotion, she went on to ensure there was no more miscommunication, "I'm proud to have a son like you."

She was proud of him. She didn't hate him. If he'd been deaf, he could've read the sincerity in her body language. The joy he'd suppressed burst to the surface and when he passed his knuckles over eyes, they came away moist. Still, part of him struggled to reconcile her turnaround with her earlier words. "I'm confused," he said.

"I'll spell it out for you. It's not you; it's me. It's a cliché, but it's true. I had this crazy idea that I'd be a good mom and my kids would look up to me. I told myself I would never treat a child the way I treated you. Ever since you came into our lives, I've been anything other than good." She ground her nails into her lap, ashamed of the selfishness inherent in her excuses.

Chris broke in, "I always got that you were watching out for family. You don't have to do this to yourself."

"Quit being a martyr and let me finish. You need to know that I thought it was impossible you were mine because I'd have to accept that I failed you. Yeah, major reality check. I'm not the mother I thought I was."

"You're not a bad mom," said Chris, unable to watch her suffer self-doubts because of him. "You were the best."

"Were?"

"You _are_ the best," revised Chris, troubled that Piper had picked up on his use of the past tense. Fortunately, she didn't probe into it. He wasn't about to unleash his reality without Mom on those in the present.

Piper clutched her hands together. "Can you forgive me for what put you through?"

"If you can forgive me for doing the same."

"Of course. Did you have to ask?" Truly, she wasn't mad at him, and she needed Chris to hear it straight from her.

A great weight eased off of Chris' heart. It was wonderful, better than a dream. "Then, yeah," he agreed. "It's a deal."

She beamed, and Chris produced a small smile of his own.

"See, Piper, what did I tell you?" said Leo, delighted with the outcome. He had kept quiet up till that point, so they could speak to each other uninterrupted.

She nodded and continued to gaze at Chris in the loving way that he was familiar with from his childhood.

Then Chris' good mood declined. Yes, he was happy, but it was a limp kind of happiness. Leo was on his side and Piper adored him, and that was the issue. If he could have dictated the terms, he would've gained Piper's favor without her going maternal on him.

He couldn't determine which was worse—her hatred, or her love. Her hatred had helped him to distinguish between Mom and Piper the Charmed One, though at the price of being snubbed by her at every turn. On the opposite end, her love wouldn't hurt at first. The danger was that he'd grow too attached to her. When he returned to the future, and she wasn't there, he didn't think he could bear it.

At the end of the day, he lost both ways.

Piper intercepted his crestfallen look. "Chris, honey. Are you okay? Tell us what's on your mind."

Her caring increased his gloom. It was cruel that she was fated to die young, and crueler still to foist the burden on her fourteen years before the fact. Chris didn't plan on mentioning it to her.

Things were moving too fast, and it was time to get control of the situation.

"Not tonight," said Chris. His eyes burned with unshed tears.

Leo empathized with Piper's disappointment. While they had resolved the issue of how Piper felt towards Chris, it was too soon to expect he'd bare his soul to them. But Piper could tell something was bothering him, so she pulled him close to her chest. Leo put his left arm around Chris in a half hug.

Chris hesitated before he relaxed in his parents' arms. Their embrace was too soothing to ignore, and he was tired of fighting. He clung tighter to Piper, a few tears trickling down his face. He could allow himself to drop his guard for one night. Then he'd redraw the line in the morning, put some distance between himself and Piper. Not too much. Just enough that he could enjoy her company and bury the Event at the bottom of his memories. His eyelids drooped as darkness began to envelope him. It wasn't the bleak kind that had been his constant companion in recent months. This darkness was warm and inviting.

Piper and Leo disentangled themselves from Chris when his breathing fell into a regular pattern. Leo stretched out his sleeping form on the couch and said, "We shouldn't leave him here. I'm going to orb him upstairs."

"Put him in my bed, Leo," she replied.

He orbed the three of them to her bedroom. Chris stirred in his sleep during the transition and Piper was quick to drag the quilt and sheets out from under his feet. She reached over to draw the blanket past his chest. Satisfied that he was sufficiently tucked in, she sat on the edge of the bed. She felt utterly drained, but she wasn't prepared to bid him good night yet.

Adjusting to Chris as her son was more effortless than she thought. Once she got past the shock, it was impossible not to feel overprotective of him. She had so many questions. Was Chris short for a longer name? What were his hobbies besides baseball? What were he and Wyatt like before the latter turned evil?

Leo was discreet in his exit from the room. He tried to refrain from turning back—he'd spent more time with Chris thanks to his head start. It was only fair that Piper had him to herself for a while.

* * *

The Elder woke from his doze in the living room to the smell of waffles wafting through the house. Yawning, he flexed his neck to iron out the kinks in his muscles. He'd gotten a scant amount of sleep, likely the result of his awkward sitting position. He staggered off the couch. As he neared the kitchen, the pleasant aroma grew so strong that he didn't have to sniff for it to tickle his nose. They were in for a good breakfast.

Due to the hectic nature of their daily routines, Piper typically neglected homemade meals in the morning. Sometimes, she made exceptions, and Chris was a very special exception. It hit Leo that this was the first meal he'd had in ages with them as a family.

Sizzling noises from the stove indicated the food wasn't ready, so Leo went to the front porch to fetch the newspaper. Outside, he unfurled the paper to scan the headlines and finding little of interest, he folded it in half. He'd read the rest over breakfast.

A small black limousine, the type that hung around hotels, drove into view. Leo dismissed it as transport for one of the neighbors until it pulled over in front of the manor. He guessed who the passenger was before the rear door flung open. Dan emerged from the vehicle and walked on the path leading to the house with an air of purpose. The limo idled in the background by the curb.

Dan stopped at the bottom step. "Hello, Leo."

"Hi." Leo twirled the newspaper in his grip. " I didn't think we'd get another visit from you in less than twenty-four hours."


	13. Ninety Degree Turn

Disclaimer: My brother has the DVD's. That's the extent of my ownership.

**Chapter 13: Ninety-Degree Turn **

Instead of converting him, dinner with Piper had killed what little Dan had understood about witchcraft. Unable to fall asleep, he paced around his hotel room in the dark, he realizing how misinformed he'd been on several matters.

Chris Perry wasn't such a bad guy after all. He was okay—too much of a smart aleck for his own good, but okay. That was provided he ignored the frequency in which he hung around the Halliwells. He got the same weird vibes from him that he used to get from Leo four years ago. Given what Leo's true nature turned out to be, who was Chris, really? He was more than a family acquaintance. That much, Dan could discern. The mystery alone could have kept him awake had there not been a greater issue at stake.

Piper hadn't lied to him per say, but she'd watered down details, or omitted them altogether. She'd explained what demons were, of course, and he'd seen firsthand how dangerous they could be. It was just that up until tonight, she'd led him to believe that his experience was about worst the sisters dealt with. Piper was more forthcoming later, but only after Leo and Chris had dropped in, and she'd verified their horror stories when he asked her.

He'd kept his promise to try and keep an open mind on Piper's double life. He'd gone the extra mile by learning more about her world on his own free will. He'd also warned her that he couldn't guarantee he would like what he learned. Dan was glad that he hadn't been more reckless with his promises.

The following morning, Dan sped away in a limo en route to the manor with his bags stashed in the trunk. He rehearsed his speech under his breath during the ride. He caught the limo driver, a friendly-looking middle-aged man, glancing at him in the rearview mirror every so often. Probably thought he was crazy, but Dan was too absorbed in his mutterings to care.

The driver pulled up at the familiar red house where a sandy haired man stood on the front porch, the morning paper clasped in his hands. Dan dropped his fist down on his knee. Leo. Why did it have to be Leo? It was too late to drive off unnoticed. Then, once he got past his initial displeasure, he reevaluated the benefits of confronting Leo first. If he went straight to Piper, he doubted he would be in a stable state of mind afterwards to face anyone else.

Dan grit out a request to the driver to stay parked where he was while he attended to some business. He hopped out of the vehicle and boldly walked up to the house, stopping at the stairs.

"I didn't think we'd get another visit from you in less than twenty-four hours," said Leo after they exchanged hellos. The disdain in his voice was so apparent that Dan was at a loss for a good comeback.

Leo stifled a yawn.

"Long night?" asked Dan, who didn't feel too awake himself. At least _he_ hadn't reached the yawning stage yet.

"You could say that." After a beat, Leo reached for the door handle. "I'll go get Piper."

"Not yet." Dan planted one foot on the stairs to stop him. "I'd like to speak to you first."

He looked at him, suspicious. "Me?"

"Yeah, man-to-man. We didn't talk much the night before."

"Oh, really? I didn't notice," said Leo indifferently. He stepped down onto the sidewalk and slapped the newspaper against his palm repeatedly, an action that irritated Dan. "What is it you're dying to tell me?"

He bit down on his tongue, his annoyance growing. Leo's attitude grated on his patience and he was tired of hiding behind strained pleasantries. "For starters," said Dan, "let's drop the pretenses. It's no secret that either of us is fond of each other."

Leo was speechless, perhaps from amazement that he dared to broach their unspoken enmity. "You're right," he answered, shrugging. "It stopped being a secret when you hit me in the face."

Flustered, Dan hurried to communicate his peaceful intentions. "Leo, I'm not interested in fighting you again because this isn't about you, or me. It's about Piper."

"What about her?"

"She's a lucky woman, you know."

The astonishment returned to Leo's face in full force. He composed himself with some effort and replied, "Yes, I know."

"I never had a chance with her from the start, did I? I couldn't compete with you—a guardian angel." The term sounded ridiculous when he pronounced it, except that Leo had described himself as such, and Dan wasn't about to argue his choice of labels.

"I used to hate you after Piper broke up with me. Still did when I came to visit. Then I find out your big secret and well, it makes even more sense now. I was wrong about you," he said in as close to an apology as he could manage. "I thought you were a fraud, but Piper knew all along what you really were."

"Dan, Piper meant to tell you the truth before you moved away. She said that you deserved to hear it from her."

"I believe you, Leo, and I'm not mad anymore." What was the use in getting angry about circumstances beyond their control? "I get why it couldn't be me. She needs someone who can handle the baggage that comes with what she does."

Having run out of steam, Dan stuck his hands in his pockets. "Anyway, if Piper's in, could you get her for me?"

"Why don't you come inside?" offered Leo, strictly out of politeness.

Dan eyeballed the manor like it was an overgrown beast before declining the invitation. "Nah, I'm good out here."

Leo shrugged and tucked the paper under his arm. He entered the house, his discussion with Dan ringing in his head. Most of his rambling seemed out of the blue and his underlying message, if there was one, was confusing. It almost sounded like he was saying good-bye and good luck at the same time, but maybe that was too much of a leap.

He found Piper soaking the used waffle pans in the sink. Seeing her, he thought she never looked more radiant. Her face was so aglow that Leo was all the more pleased with Chris for sharing his identity with her. The revelation was already benefiting Piper, as well as Chris.

He hated that he might have to ruin her good mood, however temporarily.

Piper shut off the water and dried her hands with a dishtowel. She was oblivious to Leo's presence until he spoke up.

"Dan's at the door, Piper. He wants to see you."

* * *

When Chris awoke, he felt more at peace than he had in a year. The surface beneath him was incredibly soft, and with his eyes still closed, he rolled over and burrowed his head deeper into the pillow. The sun peeked through the windows, bathing him in warmth and light. The smell of waffles decorated the air. For a second, he imagined he was waking to another school day with Mom's freshly cooked breakfast calling to him from downstairs.

His grogginess wore off, his common sense crawling back to the fore. He hadn't called the manor home in ages. The lumpy couch he slept on at P3 wasn't this comfortable, and the office was always dark regardless of the hour because it lacked windows.

Chris bolted up in bed, his blurry vision clear in a flash. A quick scan helped him gather his bearings. What was he doing in Piper's room?

The events from the previous night rushed back. That's right_—_Piper and Leo both knew who he was. Even though he was embarrassed about falling asleep on them, part of him needed the much-needed rest. Maintaining his cover story around the sisters had been draining; so was letting go of it.

He stretched his neck and arms before rolling off of the bed. He straightened out the quilt and propped up the pillow as best he could, though it wasn't as good a job as Piper would have done. Once he smoothed out most of the wrinkles in the quilt, he made a quick stop at P3 to wash up and change clothes. When he returned to the manor, he frowned, uncertain of what he was supposed to do next. The situation with Piper and Leo was still so new and foreign. He had no measure of what they expected of him that morning.

Cautiously, he poked his head into the kitchen.

Leo was seated at the breakfast table with a plate of half-eaten waffles and the morning paper. His green eyes brightened at the sight of Chris and he waved for him to take the chair beside him.

"Morning, Chris."

"Good morning." Chris slowly sat down. The chair scraped along the floor as he pulled it closer.

He stared at the stack of waffles in the centre of the table as though scared that if he took a slice, he'd reach the limits of the family's hospitality. A lump formed in Chris' throat. It was a perfect replica of the meals he ate when he was a child.

Leo ended his hesitation by passing him an empty plate from the counter. "Help yourself," he urged. "It's going to take the both of us to finish this off."

"Piper didn't have to go through all this trouble," said Chris as he stabbed his fork into two slices and slid them onto his plate.

Leo was unsurprised, but saddened, by his continued use of their first names. He hoped time would ease him out of the habit. For the matter at hand, he chuckled, "Trouble? Hardly. She's just getting started."

_Just getting started_? The breakfast was an adequate gesture in Chris' opinion. He shivered to imagine what else Piper had in store for him.

"You may as well let her do it. She's unstoppable once she decides to do something, especially if it's for one of her sons."

"Is that why she isn't eating with us?" Chris said, half-joking.

Leo's tone became serious. "She's taking care of another matter, but it doesn't have anything to do with us."

He refused to say more and resumed his reading. Chris didn't question her absence at first—hectic mornings were the norm in the Halliwell household. In actuality, he was thankful to have the moment to sort himself out. Piper acting maternal towards him was going to require a lot of adjustment—as long as he didn't adjust too much. If someone had told his teenage self that he would someday sit down for a regular meal with his father, he would have laughed. Yet, here he was holding a casual chat with Leo over breakfast.

Things were, dare he say, normal?

* * *

Piper suspected trouble as soon as she met with Dan outside. When she shut the door behind her, Dan was ambling aimlessly by the stairs. It wasn't only his grim expression or agitated movements that worried her. The black vehicle parked at the curb suggested Dan's stay was going to be a short one.

There were no greetings. Piper waited expectantly, even as a suspicion took root in the deepest recess of her mind. Still, she meant to let Dan, whose back was turned to her, speak for himself.

Dan ceased his pacing and spun in her direction. "Piper, I'm leaving."

Piper was stricken dumb.

"The airline found me a free spot on short notice. I'm going back to Portland today," he added.

She found her voice and argued, "So soon? You said you'd be in town for a week."

"Change of plans."

She probed his face for the reason. She should have seen the warning signs when she drove him to the hotel after dinner yesterday night: his unsettling questions, his distant attitude after he got out of the car—it pointed to one explanation.

"Change of mind covers it better," she said dully. "This is about my being a witch."

"It's not you personally," said Dan, taking a stride towards her.

"Oh, that's a new one."

"It's not you," reiterated Dan. "It's the occult stuff. Some of it sounds amazing."

"But the rest?"

"Honestly, the rest is so dangerous that it doesn't seem worth it. Like, the demons that pretend to be your friends. How can you tell if someone is real or evil? For all you know, I could be a demon in disguise."

"If you were, you would have tried to attack me by now."

Dan wondered if she was trying to be funny. "It doesn't bother you that you could get attacked any minute? You've lost family and who knows how many other people in some freak magical accident." He flailed his arms at her. "How? How do you deal with it?"

His rant put Piper in an awkward position because everything he brought up hit too close to home. It was true that demon attacks were a never-ending threat. Losing people—some to Death and one to the Elders—had threatened to destroy her sanity, but any attempt to quit magic was always thwarted somehow.

"I ask myself the same thing sometimes," she said. "It boils down to the fact that I have a responsibility to use my powers for good. I'm not saying it's been easy, not by a long shot, but I have to accept that it's part of who I am. And it hasn't all been bad. If it weren't for our powers, Prue, Phoebe and I wouldn't have been as close and I never would have met Paige."

"Or Leo?"

"Or Leo," she agreed, "and Chris."

The last name distracted Dan. "Chris? What's so special about that guy? Did he die in World War Two as well?"

"You're not even close."

"You're sure he's trustworthy?" queried Dan, choosing not to guess about Chris' true nature. The otherworldly people in Piper's life were beyond his understanding.

"Dan, you don't have to worry about Chris," said Piper. To convey his importance, she gave him the most intense look he'd ever seen from her. The knowledge of his identity was precious, and Chris wouldn't be happy about it being circulated to outsiders.

"Fair enough," acquiesced Dan. "I don't have the right to criticize you."

"So, will I ever hear from you again?" She was afraid to end the conversation, but they couldn't put off the farewells forever.

"I wouldn't count on it. Sorry, I can't afford to get mixed up in this stuff anymore. Maybe you can live with it, but I can't."

"You gave it a try, which is more than what most people in your position would do," said Piper, painfully cheerful. She was collapsing inside, but outwardly, she sought to absolve him from feeling guilty about his decision.

Her forced cheeriness nearly destroyed his will to leave. Stuck in the throes of indecision, he looked to Piper, the limo, then Piper. "I should get going," he said. "Take care of yourself." He put his arm around her in a quick hug. They broke apart and backed up from each other.

"You too," she told him.

"Good-bye, Piper." He turned around.

At the sluggish pace Dan was walking, Piper didn't have the heart to watch him go to the limo. She averted her eyes from the street and dragged herself indoors. There, she dimly registered that Chris was sitting with Leo at the kitchen table, which lifted her spirits a few notches.

Leo sensed her dejection and stood up. "Piper?"

"He's gone," she mumbled.

Being out of the loop, Chris said, "Who's gone?" Surely not… "Dan?"

"He was just at the front door," she confirmed.

Chris launched his weight against his chair, causing him to slide out far from the table. He was up in an instant and raced out of the room.

Piper followed him. "Chris, it's fine! Let it go!"

He wouldn't let it go because despite her claim, she wasn't fine. This outcome was another reason why Chris had wanted to get Dan out as fast as possible. The longer he stayed, the worse she would feel if he chose to leave. Chris knew how much his mother invested herself in relationships with mortals because it tied in with her desire for a normal life.

He emerged from the manor as Dan was climbing into the car.

"Hey, Dan!" shouted Chris.

Dan whirled to meet his condescending gaze.

"So, three times _is _the charm with you in the end!"

"Three times for what?" Piper demanded from behind.

Chris didn't answer her. He knew what he was referring to—their run-in at P3 where he predicted that Dan would reject Piper a third time over her magical heritage.

The guilt was written all over Dan's face. Shamefaced, he didn't try to defend himself. He sank into the backseat and slammed the car door closed, shielding him from Chris' scowl.

The limo drifted from the curb, whisking Dan away from the neighborhood and out of their lives forever.

Piper grabbed a fistful of Chris' shirt and yanked him into the main hall.

"I don't suppose you're going to explain? What happened three times?"

"He treated you like you were evil. It got old after awhile," said Chris.

"Yeah, I think he was better off forgetting," she sighed. Chris' wording was unnecessarily strong, but she agreed with the gist of his point. "Trust a genie's wish to expire."

The cogs in Chris' brain turned. He smirked, "I could always whip up another batch of the memory potion."

Piper swatted him lightly on the arm. "No, you're not!" She appreciated his efforts to cheer her up, even if his methods were strange. After her close call with the memory potion, she felt uneasy about having more in the house.

Leo came into the hall. Melancholy tempered any glee he might have felt about Dan's exit. Like Chris, his concern for Piper's hurt feelings overruled everything else. He'd underestimated the depth of her attachment to his former rival, so he gave his condolences. "You don't have to go through this alone. We're here for you if you need to talk. I know how much you liked him and it's okay to let yourself to grieve."

"Liked him?" Piper squinted at him as though he'd sprouted an extra head. "You're still harping on that?"

Chris followed their exchange with increasing alarm. They were on the verge of a fight and he dreaded being caught in the middle of it. Piper read his discomfort and said in a neutral tone, "Chris, could you excuse us for a bit?"

It was bad if she wanted him to go. He was about to disregard her request; then, on second thought, he deemed it wiser not to cross her and ran upstairs.

"I should be pissed at you," said Piper when he was gone. She didn't care that Chris was an adult. Whatever his age, she felt an irrational need to keep her child out of private matters between her and Leo.

"Are you?" Leo asked.

"Part of me is. I had the situation under control until you and Chris crashed our dinner and traumatized Dan with your stories. You didn't have to act so ridiculous. Contrary to popular opinion, we weren't on a date."

"You kept seeing him. I just assumed…"

"As friends, Leo!" Rankled by the absurdity, Piper smacked her forehead. "We were going out as friends. I owed it to him after what he went through."

Leo was breathless as he posed the one question that had consumed him for days. "You never liked him that way?"

"Never, not since we broke up. Phoebe and Paige reminded me not to give up on love, but I'm not running to my ex-boyfriend to find it. Even if I did feel that way about him, it wouldn't work. There's too much bad history between us. But why does it matter to you?"

How was he supposed to describe the transformation he'd undergone? He'd changed from juggling his family and his calling to finally choosing one over the other. It had taken a newfound son and, ironically, an old rival to set his priorities straight. Leo was working out how to express this without sounding melodramatic, when Piper interrupted his reflections.

"If we're making it—" as in their separation—"official, we can't fly off the handle whenever one of us dates another person," she admonished him.

"That's the thing, Piper," stated Leo. "I don't want it to be official."

**A/N**: Next chapter will be the last one.


	14. The Shape of the Future

Disclaimer: Thanks for letting me play in your sandbox, Spelling Entertainment.

**Chapter 14: The Shape of the Future**

"What are you saying? That we should stay together?"

"I was hoping we could give 'us' another shot. That is, if you're willing."

Piper shielded her eyes, trying to stave off the emotions his appeal inspired. "Leo, please. I can't go there. This isn't a good time."

"If it's because of what I did…"

"It's not. Granted, I'm mad, but I'll get over it." She lowered her fingers from her face. Though it pained her to do so, she needed to redirect him to the cold, hard facts about their situation. "You have to look at it from my perspective. I can't think about 'us'. It's not an option as long as you're an Elder."

"Not a very good one," said Leo airily. At her dubious squint, he revealed a little known fact. "When I became an Elder, I was supposed to stay Up There permanently, but I didn't."

Piper's heart leapt uncomfortably at this piece of news. "Why didn't you?"

"I…I meant to after you asked me to give you your space," said Leo, tripping over one of their most painful talks in recent memory. "I couldn't do it. I convinced myself it was because someone had to keep an eye on Chris, but it's really because I was holding on to Wyatt… and you."

"Do you regret it?"

He turned his head from side to side. "I never had any regrets about us. How could I, when I never stopped loving you?"

The sincerity in his voice erased her remaining doubts. Piper was lightheaded from the realization that their love wasn't dead—a little bruised and battered, but not dead. She was aware of their proximity and didn't flinch when Leo reached out to hold her hands. Except for when she clung to Leo for comfort last night, they hadn't been in each other's personal space like this since before his promotion.

Leo was moved that Piper didn't shy away from his touch. He was ignorant of her whirlwind feelings, however, and kept talking. "But as I said, it's your choice. I don't expect you to forget what you went through and I won't stop you if you prefer to…"

She brought her index finger to his lips to get a word in.

"What about your calling? You can't sacrifice a part of who you are."

Helping people, guiding them, was an intrinsic part of Leo's identity and a major reason why she'd fallen in love with him. Asking him to cut off that aspect of his life was selfish. That was why she wanted to offer him a choice as he had done for her.

"We'll find a way around it. We always have."

"One obstacle after another, huh?" said Piper. She remembered their failed attempt to marry during an eclipse, and Leo choking and writhing in pain before the Elders orbed him out by force. They weren't going to relive that experience, not on her watch.

"And this is one more obstacle for us to overcome."

"Two more. You forgot one."

"I did?" Leo thought hard and came up empty-handed.

"I haven't forgiven you yet for that stunt you and Chris pulled," she said, but her inflection was playful.

Leo's laughter was uneven. "You're not going to drop it, are you?"

"With Chris, I will. His father will have to prove himself first," teased Piper.

He took it as a subtle indication that she was warming up to the idea of them getting back together. "What if he told his mother that he had a plan to fix things?"

Piper gripped her chin, thinking. "She'd say, 'Let's hear it'."

Bolstered by her answer, Leo outlined his proposal.

* * *

Later**, **Leo stood before a panel of twelve imposing Elders seated in white thrones. They were arranged in two rows of six on raised platforms. Their golden robes added variety to an otherwise stark white chamber with mist rolling across the tiled floor. Leo's confidence took a slight nosedive when he saw that Roald, the wizened Elder he'd blown off to seek out Chris, was among the panel.

Chris lingered off to the side, a spectator to the hearing. He felt out of place—being the sole Whitelighter in a sea of Elders—and he distrusted how the set-up resembled a trial more than an assembly. He wouldn't have been there had Piper not raged and stormed when Leo informed her he couldn't take her Up There with him. As a compromise, she ordered him to bring Chris, who did have free access to the heavens. Leo was happy to oblige and even suggested that his testimony could strengthen their case. Although Chris didn't get how he could help, he was mollified that his parents hadn't fought, as he feared they would.

After Leo finished speaking, a female Elder in the front row leaned forward. Her appearance was that of a stocky, middle-aged woman with cropped brown hair and slight wrinkles in the corners of her eyes. Chris knew her name was Moira from his glimpses of the Elders in the future. Beyond that, he wasn't familiar enough with her to predict if she would rule in their favor.

"Your request is unusual. No Elder has ever asked for part-time status," said Moira.

"No Elder has ever married a witch either," Leo fired back.

Moira sighed her disapproval. "Leo Wyatt, you've developed a bad habit of breaking the rules."

Disgruntled murmurs issued from the rest of panel, while Chris sniggered. When the noise died down, Moira studied Leo like a bug under a magnifying glass.

"You've struggled to balance your duties with your family since you became one of us. How is this plan of yours an improvement?"

"It's because of my duties that we're having this discussion. I can't concentrate if it feels like I'm committing a crime whenever I visit my family. The ideal solution is for me to be with them, no strings attached. I'd still be doing my job, just not up here as often." Though Leo's reply was respectful, it concealed a hint of belligerence.

"He can keep a closer eye on Wyatt to ensure he stays on the right path," a younger dark-skinned male piped up in the back row.

"There you go," cried Leo, astounded he hadn't conceived that point sooner. "Everybody wins. My son will have his father_ and_ an Elder to watch over him." He glanced at Chris as if to say, "This includes you too."

"But staying on Earth long-term will make you a target for evil. By exposing yourself to danger, you expose us too," said Moira.

He was ready for that question too.

"Doesn't the same apply to any Whitelighter with charges? Three years ago, a warlock breached our defenses because he stole the ability to orb from a Whitelighter. I'd argue that Whitelighters are in greater danger because they can't defend themselves. At least we have powers to fight if we have to."

Moira tapped her fingers and looked around at her fellow Elders before asking, "What will you do if your request is denied?"

Chris' heartbeat raced with terror. Leo had proven beyond a doubt that he was different from his future self, but Chris couldn't banish his fear that history might repeat itself—that his dad would abandon him for the Elders. Or, what if Leo didn't wish to leave, but the others gave him no choice?

Leo had anticipated the prospect of being rebuffed and set his final tactic in motion. Whether it worked or not, he meant to stick to his principles to the bitter end. "I'll go back to being a Whitelighter or…" he paused dramatically. "I'll clip my wings. I'll quit."

He underestimated his importance to his colleagues; the room buzzed with scandalized whispers. For them, Leo was the savior who had delivered the survivors of the Titans' massacre to a safe haven. He'd turned the Charmed Ones into goddesses, resulting in the Titans' eventual defeat. Without his involvement in the battle, the outcome could have been catastrophic for their kind. Lastly, their numbers were far from recovered. To lose Leo was to let a valuable asset slip through their fingers.

Chris relaxed and blew out the air that had collected in his lungs in the dreadful pause before Leo's ultimatum. Leo flashed him a thumbs up, which Chris returned with his own shaky thumb. He strained his ears and caught bits and pieces of the Elders' whisperings.

"This is outrageous! He can't threaten us and expect to get away with it."

"He's bluffing. He won't quit."

"I say let him have what he wants."

All heads shifted to the far left. Roald, the person Leo dismissed before as a potential ally, had coughed out the last line.

"It's true that Leo is less productive when his attention is split. He's no good to us distracted," said Roald wryly.

The murmuring persisted until Moira signaled for silence and peered past Leo.

"Christopher, please step forward."

Surprised to have his name called, Chris obeyed and wandered to Leo's side.

"You are the Charmed Ones' Whitelighter. What is your opinion on the subject?"

"We weren't doing so great ourselves without Leo," said Chris, choosing to be frank with them. He was starting to see why Leo believed in his role at the hearing. "So yep, we'd be happier if he spent more time with us."

Incredulity colored Moira's voice. "You include yourself in this?"

Chris snapped his mouth shut and reproached himself for using the wrong pronouns. The Elders were in the dark about his identity, and he preferred to keep it that way for as long as possible. Leo thought the secrecy was excessive; Chris disagreed. Some of it stemmed from leftover resentment he felt towards the Elders in the future. The rest was purely logical. They could be a self-righteous bunch on occasion and they might view his existence as more rule breaking on Leo's part.

"I meant the sisters and Wyatt. They'd love it if he was around more, especially Piper."

"Piper? Hmmm. I'm surprised you didn't mention her sooner. She's always had an odd influence over you." Moira rose, as did the other eleven Elders. "We will adjourn for an hour. When we return, we'll have our final decision."

Leo nodded, and the group exited the chamber in an orderly fashion through the double doors behind the thrones. Roald was last in the queue, and Leo snatched the opportunity to dash up to him and express his gratitude.

"Roald, thank you for your support."

The elderly man was courteous, yet stern. "Don't waste it," he said.

He passed through the double doors, leaving Chris and Leo alone in the chamber.

An hour wasn't that long, but it felt like an eternity at that particular moment. Chris fell into a pattern of walking in circles, slowing down only when he noticed how calm and assured Leo was. It was good that Leo teemed with plenty of confidence to cover them both because Chris couldn't summon any of his own. They didn't talk much during the one hour; they didn't do much of anything other than wait and pray for the best.

* * *

"It's a shame he left on bad terms," said Phoebe.

Piper bowed her shoulders, even though the action was invisible to Phoebe through the cordless phone. She'd just filled Phoebe in on Dan's departure. "I shouldn't have sugarcoated what being a witch is like. At the same time, it's better he figured out his true feelings now rather than later."

"You did the best you could. The rest was up to him."

"Leo warned me from day one that he couldn't handle magic." Piper breathed out heavily. Leo, ever the kind soul, hadn't rubbed it in. "It seems like a recurring problem in our family to have normal people freak out on us."

"Ugh, you're telling me," groaned Phoebe, and Piper could visualize her kneading her temples with her eyes closed. "I haven't told Jason I'm a witch. What if he reacts the same way as Dan?"

"You don't know that," said Piper sharply, unable to watch her sister beat herself up over something that might not happen.

She heard a smacking noise on the opposite end, as though Phoebe had slapped her hand on her lap. "I'm not going to worry about it until it happens."

"Don't put it off too long. You'll feel worse if it doesn't turn out well."

"I'm won't. I'm waiting for the best opportunity."

Piper was certain she would have to nag Phoebe later due to her tendency to avoid conflict. After Piper turned down her offer to visit the manor, Phoebe stressed the importance of calling her or Paige for a sympathetic ear. Once they hung up, Piper didn't have to phone Paige; knowing Phoebe, their youngest sister would get the latest gossip straightaway.

Out of some irrational superstition, Piper had refrained from mentioning Chris and Leo to Phoebe. She longed to share the news with her, but she was terrified of jinxing the results of the hearing. The pair had been gone for a while and she couldn't stop agonizing over their absence. She should have pushed harder to go with them. Losing Leo was a blow in itself, but losing Chris so soon after finding him would be the end of her endurance. She knew that time moved differently in the heavens, with hours on Earth equating to minutes Up There, but it was poor reassurance.

After a quiet lunch with Wyatt, she carried him upstairs to the attic and put him in his playpen. While her firstborn played with his stuffed animals, she leafed through the Book of Shadows for distraction, and to respect Chris' original purpose for traveling to the past.

Two sets of orbs materialized in the attic. Piper dropped the book on the couch and accosted Leo and Chris.

"Well? What's their decision?"

"We haven't finalized all the details," said Leo, his smile beginning to show, "but aside from that, I'm good to go as a part-time Elder."

He hardly completed the sentence when Piper's mind blurred from sheer joy as she threw her arms around his neck. Though taken aback by the intensity of her reaction, Leo recovered his senses to wind his arms around her waist and bury his face in her hair. Laughing, he lifted her off the floor and spun around twice. When Leo set her down, they stayed in each other's arms, still giddy with happiness.

Though he acted subdued in comparison, Chris was as overjoyed as they were. The vote had been a narrow one—seven to five in favor of Leo. The losing Elders had looked positively sour on their way out, but the best part was his parents. He'd never seen them express that degree of affection to one another in either timeline. It was a surreal sight; he felt like the kid in the movies whose parents rediscovered their love and reunited as a family.

Without releasing her hold on Leo, Piper stretched an arm out to Chris, beckoning him to come closer. Thinking she had something to tell him, he strode over to her. When he was in range of her outstretched hand, Piper knocked him off-balance by pulling him into a one-arm embrace. His gut instinct was to pull away, but all she wanted was to share the moment with him, so he didn't. Instead, he awkwardly patted her on the back.

"My god! Are you guys hugging each other?"

"Paige!" gasped Piper. She broke apart from Leo and Chris immediately.

None of them had seen Paige orb in by the attic door. She stood there slack jawed, and the other three were equally as rattled. Even Chris, the master of cover stories, couldn't volunteer a plausible lie for their actions.

"Phoebe called. I was passing by to check on you and I see… you… doing this!" said Paige, slashing her arm at them. "Okay, I sort of get why you'd hug Leo. Chris, not so much."

"Paige, there's a very good reason for what you saw," Piper said nervously.

"I'll bet." The youngest Charmed One tapped her foot in expectation.

Piper turned to Chris. It was his story to tell, not hers. "Chris, back me up. There's no need to keep it a secret anymore."

Chris shook his head, the old reflex to remain tight-lipped about the future flaring up.

Leo sensed his anxiety and squeezed his shoulder. "It'll be all right, Chris."

Piper did the same with his left shoulder. Their combined presence assuaged some of his anxiety and Chris admitted that they were right. With half the family in the know, it was silly not to enlighten the other half. He had his parents in the off chance that Paige rejected him, but he hated to be responsible for ruining the Power of Three. Being busted twice didn't make the admission any easier either.

Paige was getting restless. "What's this great reason you're keeping me in suspense about?"

Chris gathered every shred of courage he possessed and said, "Piper and Leo are my parents."

Was it possible for Paige's jaw to drop any lower? Yes, it was.

There was a long delay, and then Paige yelled, "Holy smokes!" She raced over to Chris and gawked at him, then swiveled between Piper and Leo for confirmation. "For real?"

"For real, Paige," said Leo proudly.

"You're Wyatt's little brother," she said to Chris in awe. "I have another nephew. Wow. Just… wow." She stumbled to the couch to sit down. When she fully processed the revelation, her face cracked into a huge grin. "Gee, the things I miss when I move out of the manor!"

If that wasn't a sign of her acceptance, he didn't know what was. In her typical no-nonsense style, Paige grilled Leo and Piper for the details.

"How did you two find out? Does Phoebe know?"

"We haven't gotten to Phoebe yet," said Piper.

Paige guffawed. Chris failed to see the humor and questioned, "What's so funny?"

"Phoebe. You're lucky she didn't bust you first. She would have blabbed who you were ages ago."

They reined in their mirth at Phoebe's expense since the empath would be annoyed at being left out of the loop, albeit unintentionally. After Paige exhausted all speculation of Phoebe's reaction, Leo and Piper relayed a condensed version of past events. Chris leaned against Wyatt's playpen and listened to their tale with amusement. Some incidents that hadn't struck him as funny before sounded absurd in hindsight. It was strange to think that his initial motive had evolved from self-preservation to a genuine wish for Piper and Leo to be happy together.

After Piper brought Paige up to speed, Chris echoed something he'd once said to Leo out of sarcasm, but was sincere in this instance. "It looks like we're one big happy family again."

This time, no one contradicted him.

**The End **

**A/N**: It's been a long ride and I want to thank every one of you for reading and reviewing 'The Triangle Complex'. You guys were a huge part of my motivation to finish this story. I know I didn't resolve everything (e.g. Chris' issues with Piper's death, Chris not referring to Piper and Leo as Mom and Dad), but considering this story's placement in the timeline, it seemed more realistic to leave a few threads loose.

Whether you're a new or longtime reader, please let me know what you think because I appreciate the comments!


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